Out of Time
by RebelGEEK
Summary: A serial killer is on the loose in National City. Supergirl, together with the rest of "Superfriends" seeks out who dares to terrorize the citizen of National City. Everything went spiral when they discovered the truth behind the murders. Conflicted with her feelings for a certain Luthor, Supergirl raced against time to catch the killer before it's too late...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:**

 **This is my first Supergirl fan made fiction so bear with me if I kind of mess some things. English is not my first language and every mistake that I made and I will make is my responsibility and my stupidity. My knowledge of Supergirl is based on TV series and internet alone. I humbly request to you, whoever who will read this—have mercy on your comments. My self-confidence is weak af lol**

 **Kidding aside, this is a slow burn SuperCorp Fic. It may not look like it but I have to establish the case first in this chapter before tackling their growing relationship. So, bear with me, please?**

 **And to my readers of CF, I am so sorry but my flash drive got corrupted and I'm in the process of re-writing the whole damn chapter.**

 **DISCLAIMER: Supergirl is not mine but I really, reallyyyyy wanted to own Katie Mcgrath. Well, who wouldn't? Whapow!**

 **Chapter One**

The smell of death wafted around the alley but all he can think about is her. The woman she loved all his life. Not minding the mess and the gore of the blood that gushed when he slit her throat, he kneeled in front of the quaking woman and he watched life slowly drained out of her eyes. A bubble of excitement erupted in his throat when her eyes turned hazy with pain. In his eyes, the dying woman became her true love—his nostrils flared at the smell of fresh blood oozing from her mouth and imagined her trying to ask him why he did it.

He leaned down to her and whispered, "It's because I love you. I won't let you become what you are today." A choking sound drew his eyes on her face, as he watched her die. His heart hammered in his chest as he felt torn between supreme bliss that surged through his veins and terror that he killed someone thinking of her. No, he must not panic. Sweat rolled down his spine as he stood up and slowly—took a step back.

His throat dried when he saw her again. Reminding himself that she's already dead, he mustered enough self-control to stop his crotch from hardening. She was his, all of it. He was she's last—and the thought of it aroused him even more. She won't touch another woman again because he ended it—he made her experience what it's like to be with a man. He chuckled—his eyes mad with glee at the thought of his seed spilled inside of her. He branded her and that was all he thought while he arranged her for his awaiting beloved audience.

"We have a suspicious 187 at Oceanside Street. Two uniforms found it and they are still canvassing the area if the perp is still around. Respond code two." The police scanner crackled inside the car.

"Dispatch, this is Detective Maggie Sawyer. That's 10-4. I'm en route, ETA two minutes away from the scene."

"Copy, Sawyer, Detective Maggie. Dispatch out." Reversing the patrol car, Detective Maggie threw her cigarette butt out of the window and hit the siren. Someone yelped when her car screeched to a halt.

"Watch it, you asshole!" The man shouted as he rolled down his window. "You almost ran me down!" His jaw fell when he saw ahead of a gorgeous woman emerged from the window of the patrol car.

"It's Detective asshole! I'm on duty you fucker! Can't you see?" She pointed at the roof of her car as the blue and red light shone.

"On duty, my butt." The civilian muttered to himself. The officer might be gorgeous but no doubt, a no-pushover. He reversed his car and he watched the Detective gunned her engine away.

As the detective got nearer at the scene, slowed down her car and reached for the siren above it and turned it off. She rolled the window of her car and unlocked the door. Only the sound of the closing door of her car was heard and she unlocked her holster as she pulled out her gun. Straining her ears for any sounds, she walked towards the dark alley—a retching sound echoed as she neared and she saw one of the uniforms doubling over as he vomited violently.

"Officer," She called the man as he finally stopped himself. His face pale and a haunted look was shadowing his dilated eyes.

"Ma'am—I mean Detective Sawyer," He swallowed bile rising to his throat and he wiped his mouth, trying to compose himself. "I'm sorry, Detective. I didn't manage to hold myself but the crime scene is intact—," He gripped his knees as he tried to stop himself from buckling under pressure.

She knew it'll be bad but she can't stop her stomach from quivering. She was not a greenhorn with homicide but nevertheless, Maggie gritted her teeth as she prepared herself for the worst.

The stench of blood was the first thing flooded her nose and she clamped her mouth harder when she saw blood. Her steps faltered and she tightened her grip to her gun—there was blood everywhere, it was like a mass carnage. Bloods dripping from wall, floor, around the alley. Blood sprayed around her she felt like she was in some kind of nightmare, that anytime someone would jump on her and kill her. She could see a blood trail, most likely—the victim was dragged through the darkest corner of the alley.

Steeling her nerves, Maggie raised her gun and followed the trail. Her eyes widened and she felt herself stiffened at the scene in front of her. Her ears buzzed with shock and all she can do was stand frozen—remains of a human were lying in the corner, dead eyes ghastly staring and its throat were opened wide with a slash from side to side. This wasn't the first time she saw a victim like this but what comes next was horrifying even for a Detective who specialize in alien cases like her.

Maggie wouldn't even recognize it's gender if it wasn't for a long black crown of hair cascading around her shoulder. The victim was Caucasian, around five foot, and six inch, mid-twenties. The body was naked and to Maggie, it felt like she was—posed. Her arms and legs were wide open like a letter X. Maggie unconsciously swallowed the sudden bile rose to her throat as she studied the rest of its remaining body.

The upper body was covered with bruises and hickeys but her lower part—Maggie staggered back and she inhaled sharply when she saw that the pelvic area to her vagina was split open like it was sliced by a jagged knife. Like a butchered pig—no, killing a pig is much more humane that what was in front of her. Her pelvic bone was crushed, cracked like an egg and she wondered how on earth someone could stomach this kind of overkill. Her blood ran cold when she saw a note placed on the victim's chest.

 _I will continue to save you, my one true love._

H

Trembling, Maggie reached for her HT and her radio cracked. "This is Detective Sawyer requesting for an Investigative team at Oceanside Street, the scene is secure."

"Copy, Detective Sawyer. Dispatch out." A sound of a fluttering cape caught her attention and Maggie released a relieved sigh when she saw Supergirl hovering above her.

"What happened?" Supergirl asked when she slowly descended beside her. Supergirl rushed to her sister's girlfriend when her heart suddenly became erratic. Ever since Maggie became her sister's girlfriend, she included the detective in her daily check up with her loved ones.

Her eyes grim, she glanced at Supergirl and she nodded towards the corner of the alley. Still staring at Supergirl's face, she wasn't even shocked when saw her go pale. "Oh, Rao," She whispered horrifically. She had never seen this kind of cruelty in her life and all she can think about was how she'll stop herself from vomiting.

"How can someone be this…vicious?" Her blue eyes hazy with sickness at the same time she bit her lower lip to stop her urge to check the scene. It wouldn't help the police if she contaminated it.

"With humans, they always find creative ways to kill each other," Maggie said grimly.

A series of closing door echoed behind them and Maggie glanced at the team. She watched them falter in their steps and walked slowly as if preparing to the grisliness that they will encounter.

"I'll check the perimeters if there's someone suspicious. Whoever had done these will definitely be covered in blood," Maggie nodded and Supergirl bent her knees and spiraled upward.

By the time Supergirl's retreating form was gone—the team finally collected their wits and proceeded to gather whatever evidence was left. Good thing the wind finally had died down or she didn't know how she'll warm herself while watching what was left of the botched woman in front of them.

* * *

"Is everything okay, Supergirl?" Alex's voice crackled in her comm.

"Kind of?" She stopped midair and used her super senses to check the vicinity.

"What do you mean?" Her sister answered back.

"Maggie discovered a homicide down at the Oceanside and I'm checking if there's someone suspicious around the area." She mellowed when she passed by the street and some people who were walking beneath her was awestruck at Supergirl's sudden appearance.

"Maggie? Is she all right?" Alex worried voice caught her attention.

"She's okay don't worry but I think she was shaken," She smiled a little to the crowd gathered around her before she flew up to continue.

"What happened?" Kara tried to relay what she saw but words were not enough to describe the meanness behind the murder. "We both knew that Maggie was used to these kinds of killings but when I saw her, she was dumbstruck just as I was. There was blood everywhere Alex, I—," Kara shook her head as if she was trying to shut the memory out of her head.

"It was awful," She stopped a little and she strained her ear when she heard a scream. Within seconds, Supergirl managed to stop a robber from shooting a bystander outside the grocery store.

"I still don't get it why they had this sudden urge to punch me even though their guns wasn't effective," Kara watched the robber yelp in pain after he broke his knuckles from punching her.

Alex chuckled at the other line. "It's an ego thing to men, Supergirl. We, women, won't get it."

"I object! That's got nothing to do with gender! It's plain and simple stupidity!" Winn's voice echoed at the communication making Kara snort.

"Whatever," She pushed the robber to his back and she dragged him up to the nearest police station. After dropping him, she took his gun and she bent its nozzle to render it useless. Picking the robber up, the police thank her and resumed flying throughout the city.

"No one suspicious," Kara muttered to herself. "Alex, I'll just check on Maggie then I'll be going home."

"No problem, I'll bring pizza later. See you," Turning off her communication, Kara took another loop back to double check the city before retiring for the day as Supergirl.

In times like this, flying while watching the day ends was always been the same for her. Her chest swelled with pride and happiness as she watched National City progressed day by day. This was her destiny, her honor, her own personal happiness. Protecting every citizen in National City would be her undying devotion, just like what her mother would want for her.

Kara closed her eyes and she breathed deeply. The smell of Autumn leaves tickled her nose and it made her nostalgic for some unknown reason. Spring has always been her season—the fresh smell of blooming flowers had always been her favorite. Just remembering the smell of fresh grass in Midvale made her smile, yeah—grass makes her happy. Well, back in Krypton, they barely had this green landscape in their world.

But when she saw a familiar building ahead, Kara stopped midair, and her heart doubled its rate. It was the L-Corp. Kara looked away, unable to lay her eyes on that brilliant building. She knew that it was inevitable but to activate the device to save the earth from the invasion of Daxamites. Deep inside, she knew that it was all Rhea's fault but seeing Lena—a reminder of what she had lost once again open the wounds that she barely managed to mend. Yeah, it was given that she and Mon-el were slowly drifting apart but what happened between them ripped her heart. The guilt she bore when she ended things before he left the earth. Raw pain etched in his face hearing the words she said to him, knowing it wasn't entirely his fault. Mon-el doesn't deserve that kind of breakup as a former confidante and a friend despite his faults. Then there was Lena—ignoring her for the past few months, not explaining what the reason for her cold treatment.

Numbness echoed her whole being from losing both of her best friend and ex-boyfriend at the same time. She knew that everyone was worried for her, ignoring the hollow feeling every time she would take a break and stop. Most of them thought that it was only Mon-el—nobody knew that Lena Luthor also left her without a glance and the worst part was Kara let her. She didn't do anything about it instead she buried herself in Supergirl's cause and Kara Danvers work but seeing the tall building of L-Corp—made her ache. Ignoring the void beat of her own heart, Kara took a last glimpse back to Lena's office window before catapulting herself to drown away the heartbeat of a woman who became important for her in such a short time.

* * *

"Captain," Maggie snapped a salute to her superior as she was called to report the case that she's handling.

"At ease Detective," Captain Jameson gestured for her to sit down. "We have a situation agent," He pushed a picture of a stunning brunette to her. As Maggie remembered the victim, even in death, the woman was a picture of beauty.

Maggie nodded grimly. "Yes sir, it was confirmed that it was Emily Dunne, an Irish supermodel was found dead approximately seventeen hundred hours. Prelim on the scene indicates that the COD was a single slash in her throat. The lack of defensive wound indicates that the victim was either drugged or came willingly to the perp." Maggie paused and dragged a ragged breath to continue.

"The medical examiner on site confirmed that the victim was sexually molested before death thus explaining the hickeys and bruises at the upper body. We set a few uniform for door to door but with that kind of neighborhood, we came up with nothing."

With his hand folded beneath his chin, Captain Jameson nodded to her. "Have they established if it was a human or an alien that killed her?"

Maggie shook her head. "Both species can and will do these kind of act Sir, so unless we find more incriminating evidence, we can't draw a final conclusion on this one."

"Have you informed the next of kin?"

"Not yet but after this, I'll be informing her family next."

"I understand Detective," He paused as he studied the woman in front of him. "I know that you are one of the finest Detectives here at NCPD so I won't insult you by telling how to do your job. Be warned that this will become a high profile case once the media got a wind of it, so thread carefully. You are the primary of this case and you have the NCPD at your disposal."

"Yes, Sir." Both of them stood up and Captain Jameson buttoned his uniform.

"I'll be informing the Chief of Police of the situation and dance with their usual damn politics now, Detective," His eyes fierce with emotion. "Get me the killer."

She nodded and left his office. With her mind occupied, Maggie walked straight to the bullpen of homicide department.

"Hey Mags," Maggie glanced at the source of the voice.

"Hey," A tall blonde woman tapped her at the back. "Captain appraised me and ordered me to tag along with you," A small smile was offered to her by Detective Jane Reyes.

"So we'll be partners for a while," Jane offered her hand for a handshake.

"Thanks, you'll be a great help. Let's inform the next of kin." Detective Reyes shifted aside and gestured her to lead the way. Both women walked towards the entrance of the NCPD.

"I've been in the homicide for three years but informing a death of a family member doesn't get easier," Jane muttered dejectedly.

"If it gets easier then the lives of victims doesn't matter anymore," Maggie said as she started her car. Suddenly missing Alex, she suddenly wished that she could see her right now.

* * *

Standing in front of a cheery looking townhouse, Maggie knocked twice. A muffled voice answered. After a few more seconds, the door opened.

A mousy-haired woman blinked twice at them then turned at their get-ups. "How may I help you?" The woman in front of them was equally gorgeous as Emily Dunne but in an androgynous way.

"Brianna Burke?"

With a puzzled look, the woman nodded at them. "Yes, May I know who you are?"

"Do you know Emily Dunne?"

"Yes, she's my fiancée. Is something the matter?" Abruptly, her eyes darkened with worry.

"Can we talk somewhere in private?"

"No, now can you tell me what is going on? What happened? Is she all right?" Her eyes slid to Jane then back at her.

"Fuck," Jane muttered behind her.

Knowing that it would still be painful, she quickly relayed the news. "Ms. Burke, I'm sorry to tell you that Ms. Dunne is dead."

"Are you shitting me? We just talked a few hours ago. She was on her way home. You made a mistake. Please leave." The shaken woman tried to close the door but Maggie was faster. She put her body before she got the chance to close it.

"There is no mistake, I am very sorry for you loss." The woman stared at them, then she slowly back up inside the living room. She slowly shook her head.

"No, no. No. That's not true! Please leave or I'll call the police!"

"Ma'am, we are the police. I'm sorry but Ms. Dunne was murdered."

"Em? Murdered? No, that's not true. She doesn't have enemies…Everybody loves Em. There is no way someone would murder sunshine like her." Both of them watched her as she combed and gripped her hair hard as if the news that delivered were foreign.

"I'll call her right now, you'll see." She whirled back and fumbled towards the couch, trying to find her phone.

"Ms. Burke," Maggie firmly placed her hand on Brianna's shaking shoulders and guided her to the couch. "She's been identified through DNA and fingerprints—," But the grieving woman cut her off.

"I want to see her," She sprang angrily and the coffee table in front of them rattled. "And you'll see that it's not her."

* * *

Morgue always made her stomach churn. No matter how much antiseptic they used, they still couldn't mask the scent of death swirling around the place. Together with Jane, Maggie gestured the rigid woman to the viewing window.

Maggie saw too many deaths but it was always been too unbearable to watch the first gut-wrenching shock that course through the body of the families once they confirmed that it was really their loved one that was lying on the other side.

Emily Dunne was covered with a sheet up onto her chin to hide the hideousness of death from her family.

"No," Brianna pressed her clenched hands at the glass. "No, no, no! This is not right! Em!"

Maggie gently laid her hands on the shaking woman as Brianna started to pound the window with her fists. "Please, Ms. Burke. Just nod if it is Miss Emily Dunne," She nodded then she started to weep and like a melting candle, she fell to the floor.

"I'll get her some water," Jane said with a hoarse voice. Maggie had no choice but to wrap her arms around the sobbing woman as Brianna engulfed her in a tight embrace, her tear stained face pressed into her shoulder.

"Come on, Ms. Burke, come with me please…" Maggie whispered as she kept a supporting arm around her. No words could help her now; no magic could bring the dead back, no cure for that empty feeling inside her chest. All Maggie can offer now is answers.

She guided her to seat at the bench outside the viewing room and Maggie took a handkerchief from her pocket and pressed it into her trembling hands. "Here is your water," Brianna just took the cup offered to her but didn't drink.

"I'm very sorry for your loss," Those words always made her feel inadequate, but she offered it anyway.

"Who would hurt Em? I don't understand, why?"

"It's our job to find out Ms. Burke, and we will find out. Any information that you will offer will speed up our investigation." Maybe it was the conviction in Maggie's voice or her own helplessness, Brianna grasped her hand and stared at her.

"We were supposed to be married two months from now, I—," She swallowed heavily and she wiped her tears as it rolled down to her cheeks. "I love her so much—she's the sunshine of my life. How can this happen to her…" She drew a deep breath and cleared her throat. "She was rarely alone with her kind of job. Was it robbery?"

"We don't think so, how long have you been together?"

"We've been together for five years now, since college but we started to date publicly last year. We had to keep mum about our relationship because we're not sure how would it affect her career," She absentmindedly took a sip from the cup and with an obvious effort, she swallowed heavily.

"Did you know if someone wants to hurt her? If someone's bothering her? Any obsess fans?"

"No one, she would have to me if someone's bothering her. We're always talking and there's no secret between us. Why are you asking me?" Realization dawned on her and her blue eyes hardened.

Deciding to tell Brianna the truth doesn't stop her anger from flooding her chest. "She was sexually assaulted, Ms. Burke."

"She was…raped? Oh my god," She started to rapped her fist against her knees. "The bloody bastard raped her!" She lurched to her feet and she flung the cup of water across the room, spilling its contents in front of them.

"I should have gone with her, bloody hell, but she insisted that I should relax here because it's my first time off. Oh, my God…I should have gone with her…No, Em…my sweet Em," Grief shook Brianna's entire body as she sunk into her knees.

Maggie knew that she had to ask, she had to catch her off guard—to see if she'll include the woman in her list of suspects but acknowledging it didn't make it easier for her, or for anyone. "Where were you?"

"What?"

"Where were you this afternoon? Between three pm to six pm?" Brianna's body stiffened at her question and Maggie almost flinched when she glared at her with tear-stricken face. They watched her opened her mouth but stopped—she shook her head and swallowed hard.

"I understand," Brianna whispered. "I know that you had to ask, to eliminate me from the suspects but god…I…just thinking of hurting her…I would cut my arms first before hurting her," She said sorrowfully.

Pity welled at Maggie. "That's right…"

"I'm here at our house—I took a nap around two pm? Then I woke up around three pm because she called me, she told me that they're wrapping things up and she's on her way home. After talking to her, her mother called me—oh, my god, her mom… I need to tell them."

"We already took care of that, Ms. Burke," Maggie watched her wiped her tears as she continued to weep. "Is there anyone we can call for you?"

"I…My mom, I need to be with my mom," Grief shook her body and all Maggie can do was watch Brianna fall apart.

"I'll have an officer to escort you home, Ms. Burke." Jane took the liberty to call for an officer. They remained to her side, offering their silent support as they wait for the uniform to accompany her home.

"You have to find that bastard," Tears was cascading to her already pale cheeks as Maggie glanced at Brianna. "Promise me, that you'll find that bastard that killed Em. Please…" She croaked.

Maggie nodded while holding her gaze, silently swearing to the gods above to guide her. "We will, Miss Burke." Beside her, Jane kneeled in front of Brianna and she softly squeezed her knees. "They will escort you home, Ms. Burke, come…" Both of them watched the still sobbing woman as she was escorted towards the patrol car.

"That can't be acting," Jane murmured, Maggie glanced at her and she was slightly surprised that the Detective's shoulder was slumped.

She nodded absentmindedly. "For now, she's in the last of my list."

"As if we have one," she snorted and Maggie smiled good-naturedly. "Besides, she doesn't look like she's capable of that,"

"I bet whoever did this to her doesn't look like a murderer Detective," Maggie stood up and she pocketed her hands. "Have you forgotten who keeps us employed?"

"Geez, Maggie. What a jolly way to remind me," Jane followed her inside the viewing room as she walked.

"We need to keep the end of the bargain and earn our salary, Detective," Maggie smirked at her.

"Slave driver," Jane grumbled smile evident in her voice.

"What a whacked way to end the day, Detectives." Two pairs of medical gloves were handed to them by a boyish-looking man as they reach the autopsy table. Medical Examiner Carter, one of Maggie's newfound friends in National City smiled sympathetically at them.

"Literally whacked for her," Jane muttered under her breath as she slipped on the plastic gloves to her hands.

"Tox report came back and she was mildly tranqed around her neck area, injected, fast acting and within seconds, It'll make her dizzy and compliant for ten to twenty minutes."

"Long enough to grab her. Perp might have pretended to call her then she glanced at the perp then bam," Maggie reenacted as she tap Jane at the back. "Drag her somewhere to rape and mutilate her," Jane grunted at her.

"That alley was the dumping area, the perp needed some place where he can slaughter her without being caught," Jane grimaced when Maggie dangerously leaned at the victims' neck to sniff.

"She was sanitized," She murmured to herself.

"Yep, gleaming clean I might say. The bastard cleaned her with over the counter bacterial soap," He cleared his throat. "As of now we're processing what kind of soap and water did he used on her. I'll update you after we have the results."

"Very anal, we've got an organized killer," Jane said in a hard voice.

"How about semen?" She wasn't hoping for any trace. Goddamn, just thinking of her being subjected to rape was enough to make Maggie seething.

"Not a trace, I say he covered his soldier. If there was any trace, the damage he did to her pelvis was enough to pulverize it. The son-of-a-bitch was thorough," Carter took off his micro goggles, forcefully removed his gloves and threw it in the trashcan beside the autopsy table. "The shitty part of this was, we haven't pieced together what he used to crack her pelvis, it'll probably take days but right now, we're at loss."

"I don't understand why he had to…why he had to crack her body? He cleaned her then after dumping her, he mutilated her, making it look like an overkill. Her upper body was covered with hickeys, like—he was making love with her. It doesn't make any sense," Jane said quietly.

Remembering the position of the body, Maggie mused. "He loved her, he was honoring her, there was love in there Jane, remember the note?" Maggie's gut churned at her sudden suspicion. "He will continue to save her…"

Jane's eyes widened when she caught a movement behind her back. "Is that…?"

"Maggie!" Maggie's head whipped when she heard a familiar voice.

"Supergirl? What are you doing in here? Is Alex okay?" Maggie said in a harsh breath.

"Yes, yes, she's okay," Kara rubbed her arms to calm Maggie and she released a shaky breath. Ever since Alex's abduction, Maggie's been jumpy when it comes to her girlfriend. Reminding herself that they were not alone, she cleared her throat. "Supergirl, this is Detective Jane and Dr. Carter. Carter, Jane, meet Supergirl."

Kara straightened her back and she smiled brightly at them. "Hi,"

Still slack-jawed, Maggie elbowed Jane and she scowled at her. "You know Supergirl?"

"Isn't it obvious?" She pointed at Kara's suit and Jane's scowl deepened. "She's working with my girlfriend, dummy."

"It's an honor to meet you, Supergirl." Carter offered his hands and Supergirl shook it.

"So what brings you here? Any suspicious character?"

"I—I," Kara shook her head as if to find a quicker way to convey her words. "I found another victim, Maggie."

Maggie's back snapped back, rigid with sudden tension of Supergirl's implication. "What?"

Instead of words, Supergirl took her cell phone from her boots and she encoded her password. After swiping for a few seconds, Supergirl showed them a picture.

Remains of a body were already on the verge of decomposition but they could clearly see how Supergirl thought that she died at the same hands. Its face was already broken down and been eaten by scavengers but its black crown of hair was completely captured by the flash of Supergirl's cell phone. Revulsion crawled to her spine as Supergirl showed them the next picture.

 _I will continue to save you, my one true love._

T

Maggie stifled a gasp and with a strong voice, Supergirl said. "We've got ourselves a serial killer,"

 _To be continued_


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:**

 **I'm swamped with work but I'll try to update faster. For my readers in CF, I'm still rewriting my Chap 8 because my flash drive got corrupted. For the readers that are requesting for me to write prompts, I'm sorry but I can't. With my work and a bunch of things happening in my life, I don't know how will I find time to write it for you but thank you. Well, enjoy the angst! Hehe**

 **CHAPTER TWO**

"What a mess," Supergirl glanced behind them, as cameras continued to flash. It was almost one in the morning but somehow, like vultures, the media managed to find them.

"We can't identify her right now—we need to check her dental records. Fuck," Maggie breathed deeply to get rid of the smell of decayed corpse from her lungs. "The body was already in advanced decomposition. We're still lucky that we were able to salvage the crime scene. She's been dead for almost a week."

"If it wasn't for that cat that I saved, we wouldn't be able to find her." Supergirl glanced at the building ahead at them. The crime scene unit was scattered around and the patrol cars illuminated the whole place.

"A cat?" Maggie snorted, Kara Danvers aka Supergirl beneath her suit, body stronger than steel is a softie, a ball of mush through and through.

"Don't ask," Kara rolled her eyes exasperatingly. "Have you checked who owns this warehouse?"

"It was already abandoned but," Maggie hesitated. She was probably the only one, who noticed the fallout of the relationship between Lena and Kara and her gut tells her that in some way, the invasion of Daxamites had been the turning point of their "already" complicated relationship. "It was previously owned by L-Corp." In the corner of her eyes, she saw Supergirl became rigid at her words.

Kara struggled internally, subconsciously—she wrapped her arms around her chest as if she was trying to protect herself. Apprehension crawled in her chest, and she took a deep breath to chase away the stinging coldness that enveloped her gut. "There is no way Lena was tangled into this mess."

Maggie smile on the inside, a bit relieved that Lena still has someone in her corner. "We are not looking at her, Supergirl but we need to cover every possibility."

"I'll help," Kara winced internally, surprised at her own words.

"How?" Maggie said, unconvinced at her.

"Well, I mean, I'll try to help. I can dig around, research the victims' background and interview people." Kara fumbled for an explanation. She internally smacked herself from digging her own grave. Maggie was no fool, and they both knew why she wanted to help. Judging from Maggie's trademark dimpled smirked, she knew that it was all about defending a certain Luthor.

"In your suit? Do you want us to be out of work Supergirl?" Maggie teased the flustered woman.

"No! Come on, Ma—I mean Detective Sawyer, you know my alter ego," The latter part was said in a hushed tone. "It's a win-win situation for us. I'll do some legwork for you and I'll get an exclusive. How about that?"

Maggie pocketed her hands, deep in thought. "What about Snapper?"

Kara gave her an awkward shrug. "I'll convince him somehow," Just thinking of the guy made Kara's skin crawl.

The detective wrapped her arms around her chest. She still needs to run this to her Captain and to her partner but she knew that it'll cover a lot of bases if Kara, Supergirl's alter ego helped them. "I'm seriously considering it, Supergirl but you know that I'm not the only one who will decide this."

Kara beamed, excited at the prospect of covering another story. "Okay, I'll wait for your answer and I'll run it to Snapper, if he won't let me, I'll ask James directly."

Maggie nodded at her. "Okay, meet me tomorrow and we'll discuss this with the department media liaison." Both women glanced at their back when they heard a familiar voice calling her name.

"Alex," Maggie breathed in her fiancées' name, suddenly unaware that her shoulder sagged with relief. She watched her woman, yes, her woman now that Maggie said yes to her sudden proposal, walked, oozing with confidence towards them. At Alex's unexpected touch at her elbow, Maggie leaned at her and tiptoed for a kiss, lingering for a few seconds before taking a step back to run her appreciative gaze at her fiancée.

"Hey," Alex said in a breathless voice. After months of dating, it still amazed her how much Maggie's presence affects her. Her dimpled cheeks should have been registered as a deadly weapon, Alex mused as they continued to hold each other's gaze, not minding their environment.

"Ahem," Alex blushed profusely while Maggie grinned cheekily at Supergirl.

"Supergirl, I've been trying to contact you for hours," Still flushed with embarrassment, Alex tried to glare to her sister but seeing the superhero grinning, Alex just shook her head and bit back a smile.

"Sorry, you know, got caught up by another murder," Kara smiled apologetically at her.

"How did you find us anyway?" Maggie asked her.

"At the news, you made it into midnight segment. Was it true that Emily Dunne was the victim?" Her gazed fixed to Maggie's exhausted face.

"Yeah," She grimaced. Damn media sharks.

"How about this murder case?" Gears were clicking around Alex's head. Maggie won't be called to the scene if there wasn't any connection to the previous case and seeing that Supergirl was sticking with her, it might be something big.

Tired and sticky with her own sweat, Maggie rubbed her temple to ease a drumming headache. Foreseeing that her fiancée connected the dots, it wouldn't surprise her that the media was one way behind her. "There is a high probability that they were killed by the same perp,"

"A serial killer," Maggie nodded at her assumptions.

"We're still in the process of establishing it's MO, it's pattern and its preferred victim but it looks like the guy was seriously into brunettes," Beside her, Alex stiffened.

"Have you forgotten that you're a brunette?" Alex narrowed her eyes at Maggie.

"Relax, I'm not fair-skinned, Agent Danvers. Besides—," Maggie momentarily stopped and to her surprise, the detective blushed.

"She's too short to fit into the victims' profile," Alex almost laughed when Maggie gave Supergirl a mortified expression.

"Thank you for bluntly putting that Supergirl," Maggie glared at her while Supergirl just rolled her eyes at her.

"Anyways, I'll meet you up again tomorrow, around ten in the morning. I'll pitch this story to Snapper and hopefully, he'll let me cover it." Supergirl glanced at her sister and her jaw fell when she remembered that they had previous plans for the night. "Oh, my God, Alex I'm sorry I forgot that—,"

Alex raised her hand and smiled at her. "Don't worry about it, duty first right?"

"But still—the pizza…" Kara whined and it made them smirked.

"If it'll make you better, I left a box of pizza for you in your apartment," Alex grinned widely when Kara smiled broadly at her. "Go, take a rest. I'll talk to you tomorrow," Supergirl nodded to them and waved before propelling herself into the air.

"You'll let her cover it?" She turned her gaze to her fiancée.

"She volunteered actually," Alex's eyebrows furrowed with confusion. Still deep in thoughts, Maggie reached out for her fiancées' eyebrow to softly rub away the sudden worry. "When Lena's name came up, she suddenly volunteered to help me with the investigation. This warehouse was formerly owned by the L-Corp," She explained.

Alex shoots her with an incredulous look. "Like Lena would go around murdering women in broad daylight,"

"Exactly," Maggie chuckled and they watched the cops around them in a companionable silence. After a few minutes, Maggie saw Jane making her way towards them.

Jane stifled a yawn and she rubbed her eyes, fighting the sleepiness engulfing her consciousness. "Where's Supergirl?"

"Up, up and away," Jane looked at her wryly. When she saw a group wearing lab coats, Maggie strode towards them. "Are you finished?"

"Yes, Detective. We'll bring her to the lab." Maggie nodded and she signaled the cops around them to secure the body from the media. The detective took Alex's hands into hers. "I don't know when I will be finished…"

"I don't mind," Alex gave her a fleeting smile and gently squeezed her hand. She understood that the victims came first. That even in death, they matter. The families that had been left broken with grief, it's Maggie's responsibility to answer them, to give them closure, to accept that their deaths were the murderers' fault. "I'll wait for you in my apartment," Her gaze softened at Maggie's determined nod. She ignored everything around them and Alex gathered Maggie in her arms, dipped in for a kiss, her lips tenderly brushed hers. "I love you," She whispered.

A memory of Brianna Burke, doubling over grief flashed briefly and her arms tightened around her fiancée. She almost shocked herself when she felt her raw tears in her throat. Before Alex could notice her inner turmoil, she made an effort to swallow it. "I love you too," Maggie whispered, she blinked back her tears and she flashed Alex her damn dimpled cheek. Alex nearly swooned when she winked at her. "See you," Alex watched her bark orders around the milling cops.

"Be safe," Alex murmured underneath her breath, gaze still fixed to Maggie's retreating back.

 _Next morning…_

Kara pumped her fist and danced in a victory. She knew that it wouldn't be easy to pitch her story to her temperamental boss but it surprised her, immensely, that he agreed. Snapper's only condition was to report to him if not daily, as much as possible which she readily agreed.

"Someone's happy," A baritone voice stopped her in mid butt shake and when she saw the figure leaning at her door, Kara squealed. "James!" James Olsen chuckled at her child-like enthusiasm. He watched her affectionately as she circled around her desk to meet him.

"You won't believe it but Snapper gave a thumbs up to cover a story, my own story," Kara said in an exuberant breathless voice. "It's about the last night murders, have you heard of it? Maggie was assigned as primary of the case and I offered to help her for an exclusive interview, well, not yet exclusive but I am planning to negotiate it with her. I'm pretty sure that I can be a big help, well, you know, superpowers and all," Kara smiled brightly and like a habit, pushed her glasses up to her nose. "What do you think?"

Watching the bundle of energy in front of him, James smiled fondly at her. "That's great Kara," Knowing Snappers' infamous perfectionist and asshole attitude, it seemed that Kara won her over. "So when will you start?"

"I'll talk to Maggie again with the NCPD media liaison for details and restriction. When will I be cleared to release their statements, where am I cleared to investigate some things or who am I cleared to interview—that kind of things." Kara walked back at her desk and she took her notebooks, phone, knickknacks that she'll use for her field work, meticulously shoving it inside her leather body bag.

"You'll take care of yourself then?" Kara heard a lace of worry in his voice and she took a glance at him.

"I'm pretty sure that I don't fit into the victims' profile, James. There is nothing to worry about. I'm indestructible remember?" The man shook his head at her.

"That's not I'm worried about, Kara. You've been distant lately and it worries us," Kara's lips thinned at his implication.

"I'm okay, James. I need this story, it'll keep me busy."

"Yeah, like it'll solve your problem." James scoffed at her. "You had no choice, Kara. It's not your fault that Mon-el had—," James suddenly stopped when Kara impatiently whipped her head to face him.

"This is not about Mon-el, James." Her soft baby face went tight and hard. It was never about him at all. She knew that they had no choice. It was him or earth and she chose her second home.

An ugly feeling reared inside her, the same dark emotions that clawed in her chest, slithering around her heart when she lost Krypton. She recognized it, the familiarity scared her—the pain of losing someone, her loved ones. Grief. It almost consumed her back then but the Danvers family managed to fill that gap.

"It was never about him, James." He watched her gripped her bag tightly, her face suddenly became solemn.

"Then what is it?" He said gently, still not moving away from the door of her office, like he's afraid that she's going to bolt away.

"I…" Kara stopped and she combed her hair frustratingly with her right hand. She angled her head towards her window, suddenly speechless, her shoulder sagged. "I broke up with him before he was able to leave…"

"Kara…" Before James could make his way towards her, Kara raised her hands defensively. "Don't please… not now…"

"I'm sorry…we had no idea, Kara…" Kara cleared her throat and tried to shrug off his concern. "It's okay but please don't tell Alex. I want to be the one who will tell her,"

James nodded, his eyes clouded with worry and sadness. "But if it wasn't Mon-el then why are you…" Kara faltered when she was about to circle her bag around her body.

He watched Kara stopped for a moment and glanced below the city. Seconds passed and when he thought that she won't answer him, Kara held his gaze. Her usual bright blue eyes were laced with a profound sadness.

"I lost someone else that day," She murmured, almost to herself. "Not because she had to leave but I made her and I let her." His eyes widened at her connotation, Her? His mind raced at the possibilities. No one got hurt during the invasion and all of their friends were accounted for.

"Who are you talking about?" Confusion evident in his voice.

Surprised at her admission, Kara's eyes widened in panic and she fumbled for an explanation. She opened her mouth to explain but no words came out, and for few seconds, they just stared at each other. Silence reigned between them. Kara could hear her heart raced at James intense gaze. "I—," Kara avoided his questioning gaze and she gripped her bag tightly towards her. "I'm going to be late, I have to go."

"Kara, wait," James managed to get a hold of her elbow before she was able to get pass him. "I'm not going to force you to lean on me, on us, but whenever you are ready, I'm pretty sure that any one of us is willing to listen to you. You are a family, Kara…" He watched her struggle for a minute before somberly nodded at him. As she walked pass him, his heartache at her rigid back. He was so used to Kara being the strong and positive one in the team and watching her barely holding on made disheartened him.

* * *

"That would be the stipulated in our deal, Ms. Danvers. How about it?" It was somewhat surprising to see NCPD agreeing to grant a reporter an inside access to a sensitive case like this. Not that they haven't done it in the past but it's still too early to call for reinforcements from media. The only reason she could think of was her Captain was being forced by the higher ups to produce results. They only discovered the victim yesterday and everyone knew that legwork wasn't easy as it sounded like. Damn politicians, Maggie grunted.

"Okay," In all earnestness, Kara nodded at their media liaison. "So basically, the primary will let me see all the information and details of the case. She'll let me interview anyone that I deemed important in terms of the case and I was expected to share these details with her, emphasis on immediately," She flipped her fingers as she counted, rattling the conditions. "And before publishing anything I am obligated to submit it for consultation to you and to the primary of the case."

"Yes, Ms. Danvers." Lance Owens, a tall man with a bulk of muscles. He was wearing white long sleeves that were rolled up to his elbows, black slim fitted slacks that accentuate his ripped body and he looked striking with his British boy looks. Clean cut blonde hair, striking blue eyes and a boyish smile that could melt any reporters' knees. With his Harvard education and charming looks, he could weave, spin and juggle stories into the departments' convenience.

"What about my exclusive interview to the criminal after he was caught?" It seems that his charms weren't affecting Kara at all, Maggie chuckled to herself while Jane threw her a questioning look.

His pleasant expression didn't falter at Kara's question. "We can't give you a definite answer now, Ms. Danvers but we assure you that whatever happens from this day forward, we will allow you to write your article."

Kara sat back and studied him carefully with a blank face. After a few seconds, she fiddled with her glasses and nodded to him. "Okay, but I informing you now that if I saw an opportunity to interview him, I'll do it with or without your permission." She raised her hand when he tried to open his mouth to cut her. "We are all on the same side, Mr. Owens but that doesn't mean I won't give the suspect a chance to make his reason known. I'm not saying that what he's doing was right, it was dead cruel and he needs to be punished but it's my job as a reporter to understand where he's coming from."

His eyebrow rose in surprise and before anyone could notice it, he cleared his throat. "I'm not saying that you are not allowed to but this individual, Ms. Danvers is dangerous. The mayor ordered the NCPD to stop him, regardless if he's alive or dead and that information is off the record by the way,"

Kara stifled a snort and it came out like a cough. "So many restrictions," She said in a good-natured humor.

He laughed elegantly. "Well, I wasn't expecting you to be a…" He watched the sunny blonde in front of him crinkled her nose in an adorable way. "Hard-ass negotiator? Detective Maggie gave me an impression that you are quite an amenable journalist."

"Well, Kara Danvers has always been known to defend the justice and wronged individual, right?" Maggie smirked when Kara blushed and waved away her compliments.

"Ah, yes. The Kara Danvers that saw Lena Luthor a force of good, your article was enlightening and on the spot. Lena was always being underestimated and judged based on her family's action," He shook his head, not noticing Kara's sudden dimmed look.

"You know her?" Kara asked him in a quiet voice. Just hearing her name was enough to make her heart skip a beat and she could feel heat spreading to her neck. Darn Lena Luthor and her ability to make her a bumbling mess.

"We run in the same circle, Ms. Danvers, in fact, every once in a while, she volunteers to devise better weaponry and equipment for our police force, and that is out of her generosity. I always admire her persistence to make a difference regardless of her cursed family name."

She felt her nose twitch in the man's familiarity and obvious admiration for Lena. She was so used to people criticizing, mocking and even shaming Lena—that hearing someone finally acknowledging her as an honorable person made Kara proud for the billionaire genius. But hearing it coming out from a…gorgeous, well, she has eyes for god sake, specimen very much annoyed Kara. "Her last name isn't cursed," Kara reeled in her irritation before she could snap at the man. "It was Lillian and Lex faults—they were the one who brought shame to their family's name,"

Lance smiled to himself. It was refreshing and fairly, intriguing to see a complete opposite of Lena Luthor defending her honor. "Of course, Ms. Danvers. I apologized if I gave you a wrong impression. I was merely expressing my appreciation for Ms. Luthor's cause."

Her face flushed in embarrassment and she tried to cover it with a dry laugh. "I—yes, I know. I'm sorry I got carried away. It's just that my best friend doesn't need any more burdens to carry."

"I wish my best friend could vehemently defend me like that," Jane muttered and Maggie snorted at their private joke. It certainly sounded gay, the way Kara defended Lena from others and it was ironically funny that Kara had no idea that she's acting so…emotionally invested to her best friend.

"Ah, first gay love, so naïve and pure." They sniggered at Maggie's words and when Kara glared at them, she momentarily forgot that Kara has a super hearing. Praying that Kara didn't catch a wind of their topic, she tried to smile but ended up grimacing at her.

"So we got ourselves a deal, Ms. Danvers?"

Kara offered her hand. "Yes, Mr. Owen, count me in." They sealed the deal with a handshake.

"So Detective Sawyer and Detective Reyes, I leave Ms. Danvers to your capable hands. I still have some work to do, good day." He nodded to them and left the room.

"What's so funny detectives?" Kara tried to glower at the two chuckling women but at her flushed face and adorable pout, it was hard to take her seriously. She was so different from the "hard-ass negotiator" a few moments ago. Maggie cleared her throat to collect herself and she pulled the chair beside Kara and sat.

Maggie pushed a folder towards Kara and she opened her own. "Here are the crime scene photos and an autopsy report from the two deaths."

"Liana Walsh? But that's…" Maggie nodded bleakly.

"A crime beat reporter from National City Times. Apparently, she's been missing for almost two weeks. Her co-habitant reported her missing three days ago, it appears that Liana was following a lead to a corrupted politician so her families were not worried when they haven't heard anything from the victim." Maggie arranged the photos for each of the victims.

"Based on the MO, a single slash on the throat was COD, one stroke, severing the jugular and prior to that, they were sexually assaulted. Both had hickeys and bruises at the upper body identical to Dunne's. Both dumped at remote places and it concurred to us that the victims were grabbed then, raped somewhere else. The blood splatters around the dumping site were examined and the lab found out that it matched at the wounds of the victim." Maggie methodically said as she pointed the pictures one by one.

"They analyzed the crime scene and notes." Detective Jane placed the sealed notes in front of Kara. "The paper used is a standard bond paper that can be found anywhere but luckily, it was hand written. The perp was either cocky or damn stupid and we are betting that it's the former."

"Though the crime scenes were undisturbed, it was too messy to unearth essential evidence and it's going to take some time before they discover something. Lastly," Maggie pulled a zoomed photo of the victims' pelvis and Kara's stomach churned at the sight. "Carter was still baffled at how did the perp opened their body like this…"

"What do you mean?"

"She means that," Detective Jane pointed something at the photo. "There's no indication of point of entry of a weapon and no residue of foreign matter that could have been used to open her body."

"What about the wound at her throat?" Kara asked them after a few seconds of silence.

"The killer used a thin, smooth bladed knife most probably a scalpel." Maggie watched Kara as she read the incident report and information about the victims.

"I wonder what were the meaning of H and T in the note," Kara stared at it. "I will continue means he won't be stopping from killing and my one true love?"

"It probably means that the killer was killing in the name of that woman, he saving her in his twisted way, he was lusting over her that's why he raped and branded her, and there was an underlying hatred for her, that's why he mutilated her body. He worshiped and abhors the image of his one true love." Maggie shook her head at Jane and Kara's' incredulous look. "What?" She said, embarrassed at their critical stares.

"It's like you understand his mindset like you can see right through the killers' eyes," A faint crease of concern marred Kara's brow.

"Journalists were not the only one who can see right through the mind of a killer," Maggie joked and Kara rolled her eyes on her.

"So how do we do this?" The blonde eagerly said. The two detectives exchanged an incredulous look.

"I can't believe that she's excited to conduct legwork," Maggie chuckled at her partners' amused look at Kara.

"That's why you're the cops who loves to bust criminal butts and I'm the journalist who loves to dig up the truths and do interviews," Kara beamed her sunny smiled at them, warmth radiating her aura.

"I think that was a compliment but at the same time I feel like that was supposed to offend my sensibilities as a cop," Maggie guffawed. One of the main reasons why she became friends with Detective Jane was her dry wit and blunt personality. Still trembling with laughter, Maggie threw her left arm around her partners' shoulder and whispered conspiratorially but loud enough to hear by Kara.

"Don't worry, by the time she interviewed her way to all of the witness and family members, it'll be a miracle to see her eager to talk another person again," The two detective sneered, sharing an inside joke between them. Kara huffed at them and she adjusted her glasses firmly to her nose.

"Okay, okay, kidding aside." Maggie cleared her throat and she elbowed her partners' stomach to shut her from laughing. "We'll conduct the interviews to their families and friends. Whatever we uncovered, we'll shoot it to you but for now, talk to Lena," She saw Kara cringed.

"We can't let you talk to their families first, Kara. You are a well-known journalist—they're not going to trust you outright. They'll automatically think that you are there to interview them and trample their rights for privacy."

"I would never do that!" The blonde said indignantly.

"We know that Danvers but it'll be their first reaction once you utter your name and if you'll inform them that you are working with NCPD, the other reporters and media outlets will be mad at us. They'll cry favoritism once they connected the dots between you and Sawyer." Jane patiently explained to her.

"But, b-but I can research backgrounds of the victim and…" Maggie sighed and she shook her head at the fumbling blonde.

"Let us establish first the last twenty-four hours of the victim, Kara. That's how it's done" She reached for her, and it surprised Maggie how cold her hand was. "It's been a long time, you need to talk to her."

Kara straightened, lifted a surprised brow at the detective. "How did…" She tried to deny it but the brunette gave her a stern look.

"Both of you had been avoiding each other's company like a plague and the way both of you scowls when your names were being mentioned? It doesn't take a genius to figure that out, really." Maggie rolled her eyes.

"I thought they are best friends? You know," Jane gestured with her hands a quotation marks with a wide grin on her face. "BEST FRIENDS?" Maggie smothered a laugh, goddamn her partner, she thought but she almost lost it at Kara's honest-to-god statement.

"We are best friends and it's normal for friends to have a fight or argue. WHAT?!" Kara hissed when their shoulders shook with laughter.

"Oh, god, a baby dy—"Before Jane could humiliate herself, Maggie covered her mouth.

"Don't mind her Kara, were just sleep deprived," Jane snorted and she pushed her hand away.

"Just talk to her and asked her when was the last time the L-Corp used and occupied the warehouse. You know the drill," Maggie winked at her.

Still confused, Kara nodded and gathered her things. She neatly pilled the documents and pictures they spread at the table into her own folder. After securing the last piece, Kara moved her shoulders, shuffled her feet and pushed her glasses firmly to her nose.

"Don't be nervous, it's just Lena," Maggie said in a soft voice.

Kara swallowed heavily. "Yeah, I got to go now. I'll wait for your call, Maggie, give me some leads to chase."

"Hey, criminals were not the only one we can chase, Kid." Kara gave her a bright smile. She waved them goodbye and walked towards the door and opened it but before she could close the door, Jane called her.

"There's one thing I'm curious, Kara. Would you ask Lena if she's got some LP?" Before Jane could react, a hand flew to her head and smacked her loud enough to make the reporter cringed.

"You little shit! Stop corrupting her!" Jane cupped her head and groan out in pain. Seeing that Maggie's going to murder her partner, Kara only shook her head and closed the door behind her.

When she stepped outside of the precinct, she craned her neck up to stare at the sky. After seconds of deliberating, she closed her eyes and willed her senses to listen for a heartbeat that she always found herself listening to steady her chaotic thoughts, to anchor herself with.

The superhero found herself releasing a sigh of relief when a firm beat of Lena's heart flooded her thoughts. She wonders how Lena would react if she found out that Supergirl was stealthily listening to her heart beat. She knew that no one was stopping her from bridging the gap that was severed when Lena discovered that she was dating Mon-el but when the Lena threw Kara her famous death glare and shut her out emotionally, all she can do was abide by her wishes.

She knew that it's not mainly Lena's fault, Kara was reluctant and she doesn't know how to approach her sudden fear of letting anyone close to her. After Lena left her, it was like her whole traumatic experience of losing her world, her family came back full force and being weak doesn't sit well with her. She was Supergirl for god sake, she was supposed to be the strongest woman in the world but ironically, like a cruel twist of fate—without even raising weapons against her, without using even an ounce of Kryptonite—A Luthor managed to bring her down to her knees.

With a deep breath, she opened her eyes. She needed to do this, she had to, she needed enough ammunition to arm herself, to protect her best friend against another fallout to her family's name. A determined glint shone behind her clear blue eyes and with a human pace, she made her way towards the deserted alley behind NCPD. Within seconds, a streak of blue and red flew above and raced towards the building of L-Corp.

* * *

"That would be all, gentlemen." A woman behind the large ebony desk spoke and with a nod, she dismissed the group. She slanted a polite smile when some of them said their goodbyes to her. It was just only eleven in the morning but Lena felt like she was being smothered by a marching band due to the sudden ache in her temple. Seeing the high stacks of papers to be reviewed and signed didn't help her either. She bit back a groan and before she could stop herself, she reached out to her hair and she unclasped the bun that restricting the blood flow in her head.

Her straight black hair surrounded her shoulder like a soft curtain and she heaved a sigh of relief when the discomfort around her head vanished. She dragged her right hand through her hair and she softly massaged her scalp to ease a drumming headache. Lena knew that she was running herself ragged with work but with all her worries and burdens, work is the only thing that could take off her mind in it. Annoyed with herself for letting her mind wander, she pushed herself up and walked towards her mini bar. She took a glass and filled herself a glass of water. She sipped a little as she walked her way towards her desk to find an aspirin for her headache. She heard the door in her office opened but she resumed her plan to find the damn medicine.

"Ms. Luthor," Jess voice wavered in uncertainty.

"Where was it?" She continued to open the drawers around her desk, fumbling and pushing the papers around her desk. "There you are," She muttered to herself when she found the bottle of aspirin. "Yes, Jess?"

"Ms. Danvers wanted to see you…" Jess watched the bottle slipped from her boss's fingers. Instead of reacting, the secretary merely watched her. Ms. Luthor's reaction confirmed her suspicions between the two. Both women were not on speaking terms, Jess simply sighed in regret. After few months of watching them get closer, it was refreshing to see her boss smiling freely—like a dark curtain was lifted and a light finally reached Lena's darkest parts but after the last debacle between the Daxamites and Earthlings, the stoic woman came back and her walls were higher and stronger than before.

Lena cursed under her breath as she kneeled to pick up the fallen bottle. She could feel her heart racing beneath her ribcage. _What could she possibly need from me?_ Lena gritted her teeth as she opened the bottle. She popped two pieces of tablet and drank greedily from her glass, suddenly perched at the unexpected arrival of Kara. _Am I ready?_ Lena asked herself as her gaze fell on the glass in her hands.

"Ms. Luthor…?" Lena glanced at her waiting assistant and nodded.

"Let her in, Jess." Lena walked back to her desk. If she wanted the upper hand, Kara will have to deal with the CEO of L-Corp, not Lena her ex-best friend. Like a habit, her professional mask slipped like a second skin but she wasn't able to stop herself when Kara fell into her peripheral vision. Lena watched her with a bland expression but everything inside her wilted and bloomed like spring came after a cold harsh winter.

She looked straight to Kara's eyes, and she leaned against her desk to support her trembling knees. When their gazes collided, Lena fought everything in her body to stop herself from jolting at Kara's clear blue gaze. It was her sheer willpower that kept her from turning her gaze away from those honest blue eyes.

"Ms. Danvers," she said with a faint hint of Irish lilt. "To what do I owe this pleasure?" A cold smirked settled her features and Kara immediately knew that she isn't welcome.

For a few seconds, Kara stood in front of her, unmoving. Lena's arms around her chest, smirking, Lena Luthor looks dominating. Dressed in a classy navy Lucy pencil skirt and white pinstripe, chiffon white blouse tucked in a navy cardigan that accentuates Lena's curves was enough to dumbstruck her. Lena lifted a brow and she fought a blush rising to her neck at Kara's obvious admiration for her.

"I-I'm sorry," Kara winced when she saw Lena's questioning gaze. _Geez,_ she pushed her glasses firmly to her nose as she fumbled for words. "I was hoping that you could answer some questions, you know," Kara shuffled her feet awkwardly. "For work…"

"Ah…" She said with a tinge of disappointment in her voice. "Well, ask," Kara asked her about the details of the warehouse.

"I think I remember that, let me check," Kara watched her walked behind her desk and opened her laptop. After a few clicks, Lena nodded to her. "It was abandoned a few months ago. I decided to leave it as is because the area wasn't secured enough to hold a cargo and it wasn't financially wise to invest in it. Selling it would be pointless due to the same reason. Is something wrong, Ms. Danvers?"

"Haven't you seen the news?" At she shook her head, Kara continued. "There was a murder last night and the victim was found inside the warehouse…"

"I didn't know you are now working for NCPD," Lena's voice took on an edge but her expression remained blank. "Checking up on a Luthor?"

Kara flinched and for a fleeting moment, Lena regretted her words. "I was just asking details, Lena, no one thinks that you are connected to it. You know that I trust you,"

Lena gave her a hollow laugh which unnerved Kara. "Really, Kara?" In a sudden fury, Lena pushed herself up and faced Kara. Months of over thinking what she could have done, months of doubting herself as a person, months of trying to convince herself that she was used to it, used to suspicious glares and looks came crashing on her.

"But not enough to tell me that you were dating someone, let alone a Daxamite?" At her guilty expression, Lena's anger flared. No, she wasn't supposed to be affected by it anymore. She told herself over and over again that Kara had every right to keep secrets away from her but this…

Lena struggled for a thread of control, she was supposed to keep her emotions in check, she wasn't supposed to be losing control over something so…trivial as such Kara's dating circle but for some unknown reason, it stung and it baffled her how much it affected her, how much it hurts her.

Kara closed her eyes briefly, Lena's burning green eyes cut like a blade. "Lena…" She swallowed heavily when her green eyes shone with unshed tears. "I was planning to tell you…but…I," How can she tell her that she was ashamed of it, that she was really planning to hide it from her because it was a momentarily lapse of judgment on her part, that she was embarrassed to admit that out of loneliness, she dated Mon-el.

Kara's grief-stricken face didn't stop Lena's resentment from showing. She was tired of it, tired of being doubted by everyone, tired of fighting against the stigma of her family name, so tired of being betrayed and used by everyone around her. Anger bubbled inside her chest and her eyes burned with tears. "Just like you are planning to tell me that you are Supergirl?"

Kara heard her tears and something tore inside of her. As she tried to reach for Lena's elbow, the CEO jerked her arm away from her. "Please, Lena, let me explain…" A loud shrill of phone ringing cut their argument. Lena watched her face suddenly torn between picking up her phone and ignoring it. Not letting Kara choose for them, she took a step back, carefully erupting the same barrier that was familiar to both of them

Still looking at the CEO, Kara picked up her phone and she listened to her sister as she relayed a Supergirl emergency. "I understand, I'll be there shortly."

With all elegance she could muster, Lena Luthor turned her back at her and she walked back to her desk to sit. Like a predator, Kara followed her but Lena ignored the crawling awareness of the gaze.

"I'll be back and we need to talk," Kara kept her eyes on her rigid form.

"No, Miss Danvers." Lena tilted her gaze and the same coldness was back. Kara was tempted—very tempted to lunge at her, to shake some sense into her. "We are done here,"

Kara stood and stared at her for a minute, gaze calculating but as she noticed that the CEO won't budge, she turned her back at her and walked out of the room, silently promising to herself that she'll fix this.

For a long moment, Lena sat in silence. She reached for her intercom and buzzed her secretary, "Jess, I need you to gather some information, privately."

 _To be continued…_


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

"What have you got?" Supergirl said as she slowly slides down at her sisters' side. Alex nodded at her, gesturing the superhero to follow her.

"We received an anonymous tip that there were suspicious deaths, specifically in this warehouse. Naturally, Winn traced the call but we found out that the call originated within the ten-meter radius of this warehouse. It came from a phone booth two blocks from here." They were walking towards the entrance of the warehouse and a few DEO agents acknowledged their presence by nodding at them.

"What's with the warehouse kink of these villains?" Supergirl mumbled.

"Beats me," Alex only shrugged at her. "Naturally, Maggie would be the one who has a jurisdiction in this case but obviously, her hands are full with the serial killing case so," The cluster of agents parted as they heard them approaching. "The mayor assigned this case to us due to some bizarre circumstances."

"An alien attack?" Supergirl lined her vision in front of them. Her brows marred confusion when she saw a deformed human body behind the police tape.

"Most probably," As Alex pushed the tape up to cross, she signaled the kneeling DEO agent in front of the body to make way for them. "Agent Valdez," As the guy scooted over, he pointed at the curled body of the victim.

"Agent Danvers, Supergirl," He said in a tight voice. "Look behind her neck," His hand covered with medical gloves pushed aside the victims hair to reveal a bite mark. "As you can see this wound was the cause of death, as we analyzed the wound it seems that a creature sucked out all her spinal fluid causing the victim's body to deform and crinkled like this."

"Have you already run some diagnostics in our database of what kind of alien can do this?" The agent nodded.

"Agent Schott's already on that but as far as I can tell—this is the first time we encountered this kind of attack, Agent Danvers and we have no clue what we are dealing right now," Abandoning her gaze at the victim in front of her, Supergirl stood up and her eyes widened at the number of dead bodies around them.

"What the…?" Five bodies with the same state of deformation were scattered one by one. Three men and two women, all of them were curled like fetuses.

"TOD?" Supergirl heard her sister's question and she glanced back at them. They watched the agent fumble a bit, clearly uncomfortable at Alex's query. "The thing is, we check their time of death four times and they were all the same," He paused and took a deep breath. "They all died two weeks ago,"

Alex's brow rose in surprise and she glanced back at the dead bodies in front of them. "That's not scientifically possible…"

"It appears that we have our own situation, agents, Supergirl," A familiar warmth enveloped Supergirl's shoulder as she looked at the source of the voice.

"J'onn," He gave them a tight smile, and acknowledged the scattered agents when they snapped a salute at him. A flicker of pity passed through his eyes when his gaze landed at the dead bodies around them. "I took a liberty to contact Superman if he has any idea what kind of alien could have done this,"

"Superman is here?" Supergirl's attention perked up when the name of her cousin was mentioned.

He shook his head. "He asked me to accompany him at the fortress of solitude to follow a line of investigation of what kind of alien that consumes spinal fluid of humans, regrettably, we found nothing. He came back to Metropolis after that, promising to help us after finishing some personal business."

"If Fortress of Solitude can't offer us an answer, then we had no choice but to rely on our own investigation." J'onn acknowledged Alex's remarks. "Agent Danvers, you are in charge of gathering all evidence you could find in this warehouse and this is a priority. Debriefing will be at sixteen hundred. Supergirl, patrol around the city and keep a close eyes to what's happening in National City. It seems that the murderers decided to come out all at once," He said dryly. Both women nodded and J'onn bid goodbye on them.

Alex turned her attention back to her sister and she noted the rigid back of the superhero. "Is something bothering you, Supergirl?" Her eyes skimmed over her to check if she was injured.

Kara bit back a groan and reminded herself that this is her sister, of course, she'll notice even a slight discomfort from her. Suddenly cautious at her sisters' prying eyes, Supergirl merely shook her head. "I'm just out of lead,"

"Maggie hasn't contacted you yet?"

"Not yet, she gave me a lead on…" Alex noticed how her sister looked away, making her even more curious. "The warehouse but when I was meeting the owner, you called me."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Alex was surprised when a fleet of annoyance flashed behind her blue eyes.

Supergirl bit back a curse and she reprimanded herself from channeling her frustration to her sister. "No, it's just that…" She wasn't able to stop herself from releasing a huff of frustration. "I was talking to Lena, and we were just having a spat when you suddenly called me,"

"The L-Corp owned the warehouse?"

"Owned it before," She corrected her sister before could spout off the usual Luthor lecture that she always delivers whenever the woman's name was mentioned. "It was abandoned months ago, she was explaining to me that it wasn't financially wise to invest to it due the area surrounding the place then, when I told her that there was a dead body found in it, she got cold pissed, you know," Supergirl crossed her arms to her chest, clearly baffled at Lena's reaction. "Real cold pissed to the point that she won't let me explain why I had to conceal my alter ego—,"

"Wait, WHAT?" Supergirl glared at her when Alex interrupted her in the middle of her rant. "She knew that you are Supergirl?"

"Duh, HEY!" Supergirl hissed when her sister comically pushed her.

"I am serious! How did she find out?" When the superhero rolled her eyes to her sister, Alex slapped her in the arms.

"Really, Alex? You know that that doesn't hurt me," Supergirl watched her sister crossed her arms around her chest and threw her special death glare. "I don't even know how did she found out okay? I know that you don't have faith in me in terms of keeping a secret but come on, have a little faith!" She whined.

Alex closed her eyes and released a frustrated sigh. It seems that she needed to bring a NDA to the CEO, of all times she could found out Supergirl's identity, why does it have to be today, she rolled her eyes to her sister. "I'll bring an NDA for her to sign,"

"Hah!" Supergirl scoffed at her. "Go ahead, Let's see if she would talk to you,"

"Well, I'm not the one who kept a huge secret from her," Her eyes widened when her sister, stomped, yes, she childishly stomped her feet and practically scowled at her.

"That was really mean," Alex's lips trembled from stopping herself from laughing, she raised her hands as if surrendering.

"Sorry, it's just that you are so tense and you're almost ready to shoot anyone with your heat vision. Hey," She jokingly punched her sister's shoulder. "It's only Lena, okay? You'll get past this arguments, she cares for you."

"I don't know, Alex," She whispered, worry evident in her voice. "It's not only my secret identity that she's mad about. She was really pissed at me when I didn't tell her about Mon-el, like come on, he's gone, and we broke up even before he left the earth—," Supergirl winced and she jumped a little when her sister screeched like a banshee beside her.

"KARA!" Supergirl groaned out loud, afraid and probably in pain because of Alex's ear-splitting scream near her ears.

"Super hearing, Alex," She rasped, still cringing at the possibility of being killed by her own sister despite being indestructible.

"When did the two of you broke up? And why are you telling me this now? I thought we are supposed to be better than this, Kara?" Supergirl bit her lip in shame, now she's done it. The cat's out of the bag and worst, she rambled it instead of gently telling her sister the truth.

"I'm sorry, Alex…" She lowered her head in shame. Though Alex was a little bit hurt when her sister kept it a secret from her, she was kind of grateful that the two of them broke up. Call her selfish but watching the interaction between Mon-el and her sister was exhausting. A part of her blames herself for pushing Kara to go for Mon-el's confession but to her defense, Alex really thought that the Daxamite had changed for good. Alex heave a sigh as she watched her sister uncomfortably rubbed her knuckles while her eyes were downcast in guilt.

Alex reached out and gathered her sister to her arms. "I love you, Kara," Supergirl breathed in her sister's scent and she hugged her back. "Are you okay about it?" Alex felt her sister's head bob as she nodded. She reached out some of her sister's blonde hair that's tickling her nose and tugged it softly away from her. Alex smiled when she felt her sister pressed herself further into her arms, even in her superhero suit, Kara would always be a cuddle machine.

"Surprisingly," Alex remained silent when her sister paused, still brushing her hair softly, encouraging her to open herself more. "I'm okay with it." Her arms tightened around Alex's waist. "I shouldn't have gotten into it just because I'm…lonely…"

"Oh, Kara…" Kara rubbed her sister's back to convey that she's alright.

"I'm okay, Alex, I promise you. It's not your fault, it's all on me, it my own decision okay? So please," She leaned back to study her sister. "Don't blame yourself, okay? You deserve to have a life outside our family and you deserve to be happy…"

"Don't put all blame to yourself, Kara. This is what being a human is," Alex reached out to tuck her hair behind her ears. "I just wanted you to know that I'll try to be a better sister for you, no, Kara, listen," She stopped her protest and Alex gently squeezed her sister's arm. "I wanted you to know that I support whatever you want to do, okay? That I'll always be here and I love you,"

"Oh, Alex, I love you too, so much…" Her eyes shone with unshed tears, grateful for her sister's words.

"I'm not mad okay? It's just that it worries me that you don't need me anymore," Kara snorted and her eyes twinkled with mirth.

"I will always need you, Alex, don't be silly," Suddenly feeling better, Kara pinched her sister's stomach and she gave her a soft smile. "I promise you, next time that I'm suddenly feeling sad or alone, I'll hunt you to make me feel okay. Maggie too,"

"I think we need to re-stock our emergency stash of ice cream," Kara laughed out loud and it warmed her to the core. She always compared her sister to the sun, beaming with sunshine, warm and fuzzy.

"Agent Danvers, can I talk with you for a minute?" Agent Valdez called her attention and she nodded, she looked back to her sister and she squeezed her hands.

"I'll text you later okay? And you need to tell me about what's happening between you and Lena,"

Kara gave her a hesitant smile. "Got it, just ring me up if anything came up okay?" A slight hollow feeling settled in her stomach when she watched Alex's withdrawing back and suddenly wished that her sister still had some time to talk to her about her conflicting feelings about a certain Luthor.

 _Meanwhile…_

He moaned in satisfaction when he finally emptied her cock into her. When a whimper escaped at the woman beneath him, another surge of lust ran to his vein and he felt his cock twitch in anticipation for another round. He leaned forward and he nuzzled her cheeks, causing the woman weep.

"Please, let me go…" She cried, God, how much it turned him on even more.

"No, my love," His voice raspy with need, bordering on insanity and rationality. "You need me, I'll love you and I'll protect you from them," And he started moving, pumping hard, making the woman under him writhe in pain.

"Please, stop, help me… it hurts, please…!" He ignored her when she started to fight him, to push him away from her and it immensely pleased him when she started to cry even more. He bit her neck, leaving traces of hickeys around her cheeks, neck, and breast, pumping forcefully. After a few more moves, he shouted in bliss, trembling with satisfaction that she will die in his hands. His hands tightened around her neck and it pained him how much he wanted to snap her neck into two. No, she needed to die somewhere else, where they could see her, where he could tell the world that she was his, his alone, he was she's last.

As he pulled off his cock, the woman sobbed in pain. He started to dress still watching her whimper, in a matter of few minutes, she'll be dead. The thought made him grin evilly.

 _***Same Day***_

"Ms. Luthor, Agent Danvers is here to see you," She heard Jess, the CEO's secretary as she walked pass by her, ignoring her feeble attempts to stop her from going inside without Lena's permission. "I swear, these Danvers sisters can move like ninjas," Alex smirked when she got the wind at what Jess's muttering under her breath.

"Agent Danvers," Alex studied Lena's stoic face as she nodded to her secretary, telling her to give them some privacy. With her cardigan hanging on her office chair, she still managed to look dashing in her pencil skirt and white blouse, her black curtain of hair draped around her shoulders. Lena cleared her throat to gather her wandering attention. "Are you also here to ask me about the murder?"

Ignoring her question, Alex pulled out a stack of papers from her briefcase and threw it at her desk. "Here is the Non-Disclosure Agreement, you are required to sign these papers to protect the civilian identity of Supergirl."

Lena raised a brow in surprise but she reached for the papers and skimmed it slowly. "All of this was for Supergirl's protection but what about mine?"

Alex laughed at her inquiry and to Lena's shock, the agent shook her head in wonder and amusement. "I think Supergirl herself is enough protection for you, Lena." Her green eyes flashed dangerously and it irked Alex that the CEO found herself in danger from them. "Look, Lena, I don't know what happened between you and Kara but I assure you, she'll do anything in her power to protect you, even against the organization we stand for."

They stared at each other for a minute but Alex's heart ached when she saw the CEO reached for her forehead and rubbed it. "I'm not saying this to make you feel better but after what you have done for us, for the people of National City, you personally earned my trust, even our director trusts you."

Still silent but her mind reeling, Lena rubbed her face with her two hands. She could feel her anger slowly fading away, but resentment still shimmering under her gut. "I'm sorry, Agent Danvers, It seems that we started off on a wrong foot. Please take a seat," As Alex took a seat in front of her, Lena pushed herself up to walk towards her mini bar. Alex watched her fill a glass with water and walked back to give the glass to her. "Thank you,"

As she sat back at her chair, her mind remained blank. She was really expecting Kara's sister to threaten her regarding Supergirl's civilian identity or to question about her ties at the murder but this…She was completely taken off guard by the agent's…considerate sentiments about her defensiveness. "I want to apologize for lashing out on you, Agent." She paused and she held her gaze.

"I completely understand you, Lena and please call me Alex, after all, we've been through," She gave her a knowing smirk.

Lena chuckled. "With all that invasion and trouble we've been through, yes, I guess so, Alex." She extended her hand back to the NDA documents and took her pen, and to Alex's surprise, without thinking, Lena signed it.

Stupefied, Alex only gaped at her when she handed the papers to her. "I'm surprised," When the CEO raised her eyebrows to her, clearly questioning what she said, Alex shook her head. "I'm not surprised that you wanted to protect my sister but I'm surprised that you didn't bring your own lawyers for this."

"Trust goes both ways, Alex. Though, Kara and I were not really in good terms, I assure you that I won't betray her trust in spite of my family background," Lena said wryly.

"I guess so," Alex took a sipped. "May I ask what seems to be the problem between the two of you?"

Lena's back became rigid at her question and before she could stop herself, she snapped. "I think that it's not really your business," She gritted her jaw and as quickly as she snapped, she felt sorry. "That came out wrong, I apolo—,"

"Would you stop apologizing for every single thing? Jesus, you are worst than Kara, really." Alex impatiently placed her glass to her desk and she crossed her arms around her chest. "And it became my business when my sister came to me, feeling hurt and confused about why she had to keep her identity a secret," The agent was breathing hard, trying to stop her temper from rising because she knew that it won't help the situation.

"Don't go there, Agent Danvers," Lena growled at her, her own shackle rising. She could feel her resentment bubbling again, threatening to wreck her self-control.

"Then what it is? Don't you know that ever since I was kidnapped, Kara was so wrapped up on her own guilt that she wanted to hide her superhero identity even more than ever? She was blaming herself and for a while she wanted to stop being Supergirl, being a superhero because when she donned that cape she felt like she dragged us, her love ones with her in the danger—"

"IT WAS NEVER ABOUT HER BEING A SUPERHERO!" Her emerald eyes widened and shone with so much fury, it made Alex jaw dropped in surprise. They stared at each other for a few minutes, her breath ragged from so much anger. Without any warning, a gust of wind flew inside the room and her papers scattered in the wind when Kara suddenly appeared in front of them.

"What's happening here?" Glaring daggers at her sister, Kara growled at her sister. She watched Alex as she slowly pushed herself up and step back away from the quaking superhero.

"I was just asking her about what's the idea between the two of you, Kara, I'm trying to help," The Danvers sister both became silent when the CEO finally spoke in a cold harsh voice.

"Do you have any idea how I feel, Agent Danvers? Do you have any idea what I had to endure just because I am a Luthor?" Papers beneath her hands crumpled, and she trembled. "When I first came into National City, all I can hear about was "She's a Luthor, she's no different from her alien-murdering family". For a while, I came into conclusion that if I worked hard enough, people from this city would eventually give me a chance to see me past my family name and Kara," Her voice shook but she swallowed hard to compose herself. "Kara was the epitome of that hope."

"Lena, wait—," Her green eyes burned ferociously at Kara, silencing her protest.

"You made me hope, _Íosa_ , you made me yearned for it so bad, that I made it my life's goal to be the first Luthor who changed the world for the better. Suddenly, as fast as you came into my life, you became someone important to me." Lena's gaze snapped and Kara held her eyes. She could see the chaotic shadow dancing behind those green orbs and it baffled her. No, Alex's eyes widened at own realization. No, not her baby sister.

"When you first came to my office I always suspected that you are Supergirl. Jesus, glasses and colorful cardigans couldn't hide the heroic aura emitting around you, Kara." She chuckled remorsefully, and then suddenly her voice became soft like she was talking about something so close to her heart. "But I wasn't expecting you, Supergirl to defend me, to stand beside me when the whole world was convinced that I am a monster like my family and it made me realize that, I deserve to be trusted. I deserved to be respected, to be cared and to be treated like I didn't come from a psychotic family."

Alex's heart ached for the woman, and for the first time, she saw what her sister was always seeing all along. A woman with a will of steel, clawing and striving to survive against the stack of odds around her, and a woman whose heart been betrayed, used and left all of her life.

"It wasn't supposed to hurt this way," Lena's voice broke, and she didn't stop it. Instead, Lena ran her fingers against her hair, silently wishing for the still dumbstruck women to understand her. "I understand that you were supposed to hide your identity. I even accepted the fact that you probably won't tell me that you are Supergirl but when I discovered that you were dating someone, the Daxamite that I was supposed to marry, it hurt. It fucking hurts and I don't understand why it hurts so much," Lena swallowed heavily and she pushed herself up, rubbing the part of her chest where her heart was beating madly.

"Lena, I'm so sorry…" Her voice laced with guilt and anguish, Kara took a step forward.

"I kept telling myself over and over again, I kept justifying what I feel, that maybe because I felt betrayed that you didn't trust me enough to tell me that you already have someone. You stand there, preaching and making me believed that you trusted me and when I discovered that, it suddenly made me feel awful, that I really don't deserve to be trusted but that doesn't change the fact that it hurts, it didn't make me feel any better." She closed her eyes when she felt her tears slowly trickled at her cheeks.

Kara can't take it anymore of it, she circled around the CEO's desk to reach for her, she pulled Lena to face her. "It's not because you are a Luthor, Lena, look at me," Kara's voice rough with emotions as she watched the woman craned her neck to meet her eyes. "I'm ashamed…" Kara glanced down at her feet, and she tried to shrug. "I accepted his feeling before because I'm lonely. Imagine that," She laughed ruefully to herself.

"A super, feeling lonely. I made a mistake, I accepted his feeling because I'm stupid enough to believe that he was enough to make me feel happy, to make me feel that I belong, that I'm not alone." Lena laughed miserably and she shook her head as she step back. She knew that she was being stubborn but all she can feel was pain and betrayal.

"That doesn't change the fact that you concealed that to me, Kara. Even your alter ego. You purposely lied to me—"

"BECAUSE I HAVE TO KEEP YOU SAFE! I HAVE TO!" She shouted, her whole voice resonating around the room. A sob escaped Kara's lips as she watched Lena looked at her like she betrayed her, Rao, how much it pained Kara to be looked like she was out to hurt her. "After what happened to Alex, I can't risk your life, I won't risk it, Lena, please!" She followed her when the CEO was backing away from her. "I can't lose you, Rao," Another heart-wrenching sob escaped her lips and her tears rolled freely at her cheeks.

"I lost everything before, I lost my family, my friends, my world, my culture, everything. Even with the love and caring of Danvers family it still hurts, every single day I had to wake up and survive. I had to be strong because my mother wanted me to live but all I wanted was to die with them! They didn't give me a choice, Lena, but with you, I had a choice to keep you safe." She clenched her hands at her side to stop herself from breaking something.

"When Alex was kidnapped, it made me realize that even though I'm invincible, those who hates me could use my love ones to hurt me and that," Kara angrily wiped away her tears to catch Lena's gaze. "Would hurt me the most," She whispered. "It would hurt me so much that I would wish my own death," She laughed wretchedly.

"After you left me I thought it would be easier because finally, you are safe, that you can finally reach your dreams and become the first Luthor that changed the world for the better but Rao," She sobbed wrenchingly when she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "I didn't know it could be this hard, that losing you like this would hurt me so bad, Lena. I can't…I can't lose you. I'm so sorry that I hide the truth from you, I'm so sorry, Lena…" She sank to her knees and cried. Her chest heaving when a series of sob continuously escaped from her mouth, eyes completely blurred with tears flowing from her lashes and all she can think about was how to stop the pain from overcoming her senses.

Suddenly, she was enveloped into a familiar warmth and Lena's distinct perfume flooded her senses and Kara cried in relief. Lena came back, it echoed around her mind, like a broken record, gratefully echoing around her mind. Kara wrapped her arms around the CEO's back and despite her wreck emotions, she gently buried her head into its black crown of hair. "Thank you, thank you," Her voice muffled against Lena's hair, she gratefully thanked her.

Her own tears cascading, Lena held the crying hero inside her arms. It broke her to see Kara weeping for the people she lost, for the responsibility that her mother left her and for the things that she did to Kara. Self-preservation be damned, but there was something about Kara that makes her want to reach out, like an unknown galaxy waiting to be discovered. A Luthor like her might not be worthy of a godsend hero like Kara but they were always known to defy the rules, and she will defy it, she will do everything in her power to keep her. "I'm so sorry for being a stubborn fool, Kara. Please, forgive me for letting my personal insecurities ran rampant,"

Kara silenced her, she leaned back to look at the CEO. "Shh, it's okay, we're okay. Let's forget about this, I just want us to be back like the way it was before." Lena nodded at her.

"Finally," A voice behind them croaked and for a moment, they forgot that Alex was with them. Both women blushed furiously at their display of emotions but the agents just waved their embarrassment and walked towards them. She kneeled at them and she hugged both women.

"I'm happy that both of you have finally gotten over that rotten argument," They shook with laughter under her arms. "But it wouldn't hurt next time if you'll do this with less dramatic flair. I felt like I was watching a heavy drama series at Netflix, ouch!" Alex dropped at her butt when her sister shoved her back.

"Shut up, Alex," Kara fondly said to her sister, her arms still around the CEO's waist. She plopped back to seat at the floor, dragging the CEO beside her, afraid to let her go. Lena chuckled but winced when she almost fell onto her butt, she squeezed Kara's arm. "I can't possibly seat at the floor or I might rip my skirt,"

"Now that I'm back to your daily routine, wearing a slack is a must. So you'll always be comfortable in your clothes if we decided to break your schedule, you know, to play hooky." Her eyes still shining with tears, Kara beamed at her, making Lena's stomach flip in a crazy way.

"So, we'll always end up in the floor? My, I didn't know that you like it dirty," Kara blushed furiously, and out of habit, Lena reached for her cheeks to pinch adoringly. Lena grinned when Kara giggled warmly.

Alex stopped herself from reacting, afraid to startle the fleeting moment between the two women but as she watched their interaction, how comfortable they were at touching one another, how powerful their reaction to each other—it was perplexing yet felt right. Like a puzzled, made and fit for each other, it was… Alex shook her head and she swallowed heavily. A Luthor and a Super falling for each other was probably the most ironic thing she'll witness in her entire life.

Kara's phone suddenly rang and the moment was broken, she smiled apologetically at the CEO as she reached for her boot, and pulled out her ringing device. Lena raised a brow, but smiling at her. "Hello? Oh, Maggie, got an update for me?"

When Kara's hand loosened around her waist, the CEO tapped it light before pushing herself up to gather herself. She wiped away her tears, and she offered a hand to the still sitting superhero. Kara absentmindedly took it, Lena pulled her up and she was a little bit surprised that Kara was lighter than she thought, not that she thought that she must have weight a ton but being a superhero and all, made her curious at it.

Lena glanced at the agent but her brows rose in question when Alex was giving them a disbelieving look but before she could ask her about what was bothering her, Kara hissed.

"Another one? Where?" Her muscles suddenly recoiled, tense and ready to act, Lena reached out and tried to soothe her by gently rubbing her arm. "Okay, I'll be there in a jiffy, Is Jane there? Okay, just be sure that you're not going to be alone, bye." As she turned off her phone, Alex called her attention.

"Another murder?" Kara nodded, her face furious. It was infuriating that the murderer managed to kill someone again under their watch.

"This is his third and probably another brunette, this has to stop,"

"I have something for you, Kara," The sisters watched Lena as she walked back to her desk to search for something, after a few seconds, she came up with a folder and she gestured it towards the superhero. "This is all the information we have about the warehouse, take it to Maggie. It might be helpful in your investigation."

Kara's face lightened up and she beamed as she took it. "Thanks Lena, Maggie would be pleased with this," Lena nodded at her. "Uhm, I have to go now, can we, uhm… are you free for dinner tonight? In my place?"

Lena laughed quietly at her obvious discomfort, damn, it would be considered a talent if you managed to resist this dorky woman. "Of course, we should talk about…our issues, later." Kara's smile faltered but Lena quickly assured her. "We're okay, Kara. It's just that we really need to address why we ended up arguing like this…"

Kara sighed, a little relieved that they were really all right. "Okay, I need to go now, Maggie needs me," The superhero smiled sheepishly when she saw what mess she did when she flew inside the office without a warning.

"Alex, please clean up the room, I owe you one, Thanks!" As fast as the superhero came, she vanished quickly, leaving another trail of documents scattering around the room.

"KARA!" Lena laughed out loud at Alex's flabbergasted expression after Kara's departure. Alex narrowed her eyes at her. "Have you forgotten that most of the papers in here are yours?"

The CEO croaked at her own laughter, and she bit her lip. "You won't help me?"

"Ha! I'll just take the NDA and you're on your own," Alex walked towards the corner where most of the pile of papers landed.

"Is is because I'm a Luthor?" Alex choked and Lena's shoulder shook with mirth when the agent frustratingly threw a paper to her. For the first time in few months, a heavy burden was lifted off her chest, and she feels years lighter than before.

 _***to be continued***_

 **A/N:**

 **Hello, guys! I just want to clarify that this fic is SuperCorp. Like what I said before, I'll just introduce the facts in Chapter one. After chapter three, the succeeding chapters will now focus on SuperCorp and the investigation around the murders.**

 **If any of you somehow found out how, why and who are the killers in my fic, I plead to you, don't rob the pleasure, and spoil it to the other readers. Don't reveal it in the comment section please :'( You can pm me if you really want to guess it and if someone got it right, I'll give you a reward :) pretty pls?**

 **I hope I managed to explain why both characters reacted that way. For me, Lena Luthor is a very complex character to write. If you would delve deeper into her character, I'm pretty sure that after what happened to her as she grew up and with her environment in Luthor household, there was bound to be a negative effect to her. She's got some insecurities and trust issues which I really hope, I managed to write clearly in this chapter. And as for Kara, I think it would be perfectly normal for her to react that way, to try to hide her alter ego more after what happened to Alex but of course, with their issues in their personalities misunderstanding was bound to happen.**

 **As you can see, it wasn't the Superhero secret that made her react that way. It was when she discovered that Kara was dating someone :) She was deeply hurt and like what I wrote "She doesn't understand why it hurts so much," yep, both of them haven't realize it yet! Lol**

 **Well, there you have it. Feel free to slaughter me in comment section (gently, I say) and you can ask me some question if you want! Thankies!**


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR**

It was a complete clusterfuck as Maggie tried to command some control at the scene of the crime as she waited for Kara. Her squad quickly rolled around the police tape around the crime scene to stop the media and gawkers from contaminating the place.

"You!" She shouted angrily when a man with a camera tried to dodge the tape. She strode angrily, she covered the camera lens before he could take a picture. "Do you have any idea what pain you could cause if you published this without informing the next of kin?" One of her backups came at them and pushed the man back at the barrier. "For god sake, have some respect for the victim and her family!"

Flashes erupted around her and she was momentarily blinded by it. Maggie cupped her face as she tried to squint her eyes when a number of microphones were shoved in her face.

"Do you already have a lead?"

"Do you have a motive? Can you confirm that this is already a serial killing?"

Maggie took a step back when the reporters dangerously lurched against the barrier. She gritted her teeth and let her anger show. She knew that she had to be careful of her words because they could twist her statement into something ugly and being primary of the case, she was representing the NCPD police and it could cost Maggie her job if she fucked this up.

"The department has no comment at this time other than the investigation of the deaths are ongoing."

"Is it still safe for women to be alone in the street?" Someone shouted at her.

"What was NCPD next step to keep the city safe after this third murder?" Someone followed.

Maggie reign in her temper. She doesn't have time for this. "We are doing everything we can to apprehend the killer and to keep the citizen safe, so if could please step back and let us do our job—" The detective was once again blinded by a series of flash when a woman crying was spotted being comforted by her partner, Jane. Goddammit, in this case, it'll take them hours to settle the reporters and that means, wasted time for investigation.

A fluttering sound of cape caught Maggie's attention, when she looked up she saw Supergirl flying towards her. Fuck, she cursed internally when the flock of reporters turned their attention at the superhero.

"Supergirl! Are you cooperating with the NCPD? What are your thoughts about it?" Supergirl tried to shut down her super hearing akin to normal level when the reporters started to go crazy with questions.

"Detective Sawyer, can we have a moment please?" Supergirl tried to draw Maggie's attention but with the hero's abrupt appearance made the reporters crazier. Most of them are now in an uproar, shoving each other to get closer to them. Maggie's eyes bulged when she saw the barrier, almost on the verge of breaking down.

"ENOUGH!" Suddenly, Supergirl barked at everyone and silence fell. No one dared to move as they watched the hero soar a few feet above, moving her eyes from every reporter.

"A woman died today," Her voice hard yet you can hear a string of remorse at it. "A life was robbed from her family and friends. Someone who left an impact not just on her families lives but on all the people that she met, the people she served and worked with. So I plead to you, please respect her and don't release her pictures in the media like this. Trust NCPD, especially Detective Sawyer to do their job instead of wasting their time trying to stop you from trampling the victim's rights and contaminating the crime scene and help us," Her blue eyes scanned the enraptured audience. "If you saw something or any information would be helpful, Thank you."

They were still quiet, so Maggie took the opportunity to address the media. "We will have a media conference to answer all of your inquiries. We will announce this later but for the mean time, like Supergirl said, let us do our job so this bastard can finally be put behind bars where criminals like him belonged. Thank you," She signaled the hero to follow her towards the crime scene, and she released a sigh of relief when the crowd behind them finally calmed down.

"Thanks," Maggie said as Kara slowly dropped and strode beside her.

"Don't mention it," Her eyes were drawn by a sobbing woman sitting in an open police car. "Who is that?"

"Her spouse," Maggie answered as she nodded to her partner, Jane. "I'm sorry to disturb you Ma'am but can we get your statement?"

Sympathy swelled in Supergirl's chest when the woman faced them. Her eyes red, swollen from crying and her blonde hair was disheveled like someone dragged her off the bed, to face the nightmarish reality that was shoved into her face. "Supergirl," She sobbed in a broken voice.

Supergirl dropped to her one knee and she held both of her hands. "I am so sorry for your loss," The woman broke down and for the first time in her life, she was powerless to help the grieving woman. The flashes of camera barely registered in Supergirl's awareness as she tried to comfort ease the pain of the sobbing woman. After few minutes of crying, the woman shoulder slumped in exhaustion, occasionally sniffling silently.

"I know that it's hard but the sooner you finish your statement with the police, the sooner we'll be able to track the killer that did this to her,"

Staring vacantly, the woman wiped her tears and her mouth quivered. "I heard what you said about Naomi," Her voice slang with a unique accent, Kara squeezed her hand gently, coaxing her to talk. "Thank you," She whispered brokenly, she swallowed hard before darting her gaze to Maggie. "I'm ready to talk,"

"Ms. Diana Reid, I'm going to record your statement for your own protection and it's your right to request a presence of a lawyer." Diana nodded stiffly as if she was struggling to stop herself from breaking down again.

"Let's just get over it," Maggie nodded before pulling a recorder out from the car's compartment. Maggie pressed it and she stated mechanically the Revised Miranda Warning to the rigid woman.

"Interview regarding the murder of Naomi Reid, her wife, Diana Reid waived her rights for a presence of a counsel. Is that correct Mrs. Reid,"

"Yes," Supergirl stroked Naomi's knuckles gently as when she drew a shudder of breath.

"Can you tell us how did you know that Naomi was murdered?"

"I am at work, currently on lunch break when someone called me on my phone, it was Naomi's number but when I answered it, it was a voice of a man. I asked him what was he doing with my wife's phone but he remained silent. He was just breathing hard and I was starting to become nervous, when I told him that I'm going to hang up, he suddenly spoke to me. He cited this address, telling me if I wanted to see my wife, I should come. I demanded answers, but he just hung up. I got a bad feeling about it so I told my boss that my wife needed me and I asked John, one my co-workers to accompany me but with our deadline nearing, my boss told me that he can't spare him to go with me. I didn't tell them what the call was about because it might just be a misunderstanding but when I came here, I—I," Naomi cupped her mouth and blinked back the tears, she shook her head and her gaze darted at the alley.

"There is so much b-blood, I just stood there…I started to s-scream but no words came out of my mouth. I stumbled back and dialed nine one one, I wanted to c-cover her body, God," She hiccup and tremors ran through her body. "She was n-naked, I-I w-wanted to run to her but I knew, I knew with that kind of w-wound, she's already d-dead," Sobs racked her body and Supergirl stood up to circled her arms around Naomi. Maggie glanced at the hero and they both shivered in terror. It seems that the killer was beginning to be arrogant and bold. A dangerous combination for a serial killer.

"You did the right thing, Ma'am. Did you notice anyone loitering around? Someone suspicious?" Naomi only shook her head. "I didn't notice anyone, I'm sure of it. After I saw Naomi, I tried to ask for help but I saw no one around me."

"When did you last saw your wife?"

"This morning, she's a divorce lawyer in her own firm." She wiped the fresh tears from her eyes. "We always have breakfast together before going to work, it's our golden rule to eat together as much as possible because of our busy schedules."

"Did she have enemies? Anyone threatening her?"

"No," She shook her head vehemently in denial. "Lately, she's letting all of their junior lawyers handle their cases, Naomi only interacts with the clients when one of her juniors asked for her help and if someone was threatening her, she would have told me. We don't hide secrets from each other, Detective. We love each other,"

"When did the reporters came?" Supergirl's attention perked at Maggie's question and it seems that the killer called the reporters too. Overconfident prick, she gritted her jaw tightly in anger.

"As soon as the first two uniforms arrived they came, luckily the two uniform managed to stop them before they could talk to me. They let me hide in their patrol car while they tried to secure the s-scene, then you arrived…"

"Okay, Mrs. Reid. That would be all, we'll contact you again for questions. I'll let one of the uniform escorts you home, do you have anyone to go to?" When Naomi's gaze landed at Supergirl, all could Kara see was pain and despair.

"I grew up in a foster home, so I don't have a family. Maybe you could get me back to one of my f-friends." Maggie's lips thinned in a taunt line, the woman doesn't have a family and someone killed the only one she could call home.

"Okay, Mrs. Reid. I'm so sorry for your lost." Maggie knew that she couldn't bring her dead wife back, all she could offer was her sincere apology and justice.

Naomi Reid pushed herself up unsteadily and she reached out for the detective's elbow to squeeze. "So do I, detective. So do I…" As they watched Naomi got in a one of the police's squad car, a lump rose in Kara's throat as she dreaded how Naomi's going to face going back to their home, alone.

"We interviewed the family members of the victims," As Supergirl glanced at Maggie, she could see her back stiff with tension. They didn't have the luxury to wallow in pity when a dangerous serial killer was on the loose, so Supergirl took a deep breath to block out her own shame and pain.

"They didn't notice anyone or no one gave them a dangerous vibe. We asked them if someone recently came into their lives and gave us a few threads to tug. Liana's family gave me the victim's weasel contacts while Emily's family gave me her modeling contacts. I suggest that you—I mean," Her eyes flickered to her partner. "Tell, Kara to chase it through." Maggie signaled Supergirl to follow her further in the crime scene.

"This doesn't look like a random serial killing despite the modus operandi and the killer's fetish to brunettes. It would take some time for the killer to stalk and study the victim's routine to kidnap them. Our best bet was the killer might have pretended to be the victim's client, contact or weasel to isolate them for the snatch. We talked to a NCPD psychologist to draw up some profile closest to the killer's personality." Jane's expression was dark like Maggie's and she could see dark circles in her eyes, a sign of fatigue.

"We are racing against time, the killer already killed three women in a span of three weeks and the bastard is escalating as we speak, he might be already stalking her fourth victim. Shit." Maggie suddenly stopped and for the first time that she met her, this was the only time Supergirl saw her rattled and frustrated beyond words.

Supergirl ran out of encouraging words for the two frustrated detectives and she could almost feel her own fury rising. It was a race against the clock, only given with the lowest amount of clues to follow but three dead victims were already in their liability. As she glanced at the crime scene, her eyes narrowed in confusion—then a possibility came through. Without any second thoughts, she flew above the crime scene.

The uniform who was taking pictures of the victim gasped when the hero unexpectedly flew above the victim. "Supergirl?!"

"Where is the note?" She asked, a hollow terror was rising through her chest and she wished that she was wrong about her suspicions. The man showed her the note and Supergirl's body grew rigid, without a second to waste she flew back to the two confused detectives.

"What's wrong? Super—," But Supergirl interrupted her with a hiss.

"Is Liana Walsh a gay?" Their eyes widened at her question and their silence confirmed her suspicions. "He's killing gay women, Maggie. This is a hate crime,"

"Oh, no," Jane suddenly whimpered and she frustratingly combed her hair. "This is going to be bad, Mags. He's targeting gay women which means this could blow up messily in our face."

"It does make sense," Maggie ignored her partner's outburst and she held Supergirl's firm gaze. "He was trying to make them straight, and he was probably rejected by a gay woman. His one true love. We should ask their families if one of them rejected a guy recently, probably a year from now."

"The letters attached in his notes don't make any sense because he's still going to kill again." Maggie's grim face confirmed her fears—he won't stop unless they caught him.

"Supergirl, go tell, Kara—,"

"Oh, come on, do you honestly think that I didn't see through your disguise?" At Supergirl's dumbstruck expression, Jane only shrugged her. "You can stop pretending now, it's actually exhausting to act as if I am unaware of your alter ego."

"I told you, it doesn't take a genius to figure it out, Supergirl." The superhero only rolled her eyes at Maggie.

"Alex's going to kill me for disturbing her own investigation for another NDA trip to sign," Maggie's brow raised at her.

"Another? You mean, Lena finally figure it out?" She stopped her smile from growing. It seems that the two of them finally got through their misunderstanding.

"She already knew it from the start, it looks like I need to change my disguise," Jane snorted at her crestfallen look.

"It's already too late but you know, if I didn't spend some time with your Supergirl ego I wouldn't notice the similarities. So I guess, your alter ego is safe as long as you don't socialize in the same circle with both of your alter egos." The two detectives chuckled when the hero only clucked her tongue in reply.

"Before I forgot," Supergirl took a folder behind her back to give it to Maggie. "Here's all the information on the warehouse, Lena wanted to give it to you." As she took it, Maggie thanked her, in exchange, she pulled a page out of her notebook and gave it to the hero. "Here's the list of people you'll need to talk to,"

"I should probably go now, inform me if something new came up," She folded the note Maggie gave her and deposited it inside her boots. Before she could fly, Jane called her attention.

"Great call on the gay part, Supergirl," The hero smiled at Jane's praise and nodded before she soared into the sky.

"Now for the best part," Maggie grimaced when she glimpsed back at the alley. "We examine the crime scene,"

"Fuck," Jane breathed in an aggravated sigh. Who says it's fun being a homicide detective? She thought to herself as she followed her partner towards the grisly scene.

* * *

Lena's green eyes were automatically drawn towards the flat screen television when someone mentioned Supergirl's name in the news. Her pen stopped, suspended in the air as she craned her neck to listen to the news anchor who was currently reporting the latest news about the serial killing.

 _"A woman died today," Supergirl's voice hard yet you can hear a string of remorse at it. "A life was robbed from her family and friends. Someone who left an impact not just on her families lives but on all the people that she met. So I plead to you, please respect her and don't release her pictures in the media like this. Trust NCPD, especially Detective Sawyer to do their job instead of wasting their time trying to stop you from trampling the victim's rights and contaminating the crime scene."_

"This is the third woman found dead within three weeks, a source from NCPD confirmed that they died the same way which clearly indicates that a serial killer is indeed terrorizing the National City. Emily Dunne, an Irish model. Lianna Walsh a journalist from National Times and Naomi Reid, a divorce lawyer all killed with a single slash in their throat. NCPD gave no comment and assured the public that they are doing everything they can to apprehend the killer. The investigation is ongoing and it is spearheaded by Detective Maggie Sawyer but the question is, are we finally safe now that Supergirl is working with the NCPD? This is Jonathan Holmes, from National City News, reporting."

"We will be safe if humans would stop killing each other every chance they could get. AI, mute the TV," Lena said annoyingly as she heavily leaned in her chair. Meeting with her chauvinistic board members left her in a bad mood. Lena did all she can, in fact, the prices of L-Corp stocks rose up to 12% but as usual, the privilege pricks always found ways to rub her family name to her face like she didn't know that she's a Luthor. She closed her eyes and her mind wandered around her brother, Lex. She could easily recall his gentle gray eyes when she first arrived at the Luthor Manor. His crooked and boyish grin when he greeted her despite Lillian's outrageous reaction when he picked her up. His gentle guidance when she was being bullied for being gay and being adopted. He was far different from the madman who was arrested in front of her, his once gentle eyes now bored with a burning resentment against the man of steel.

Lena wondered what made her brother snap and did those terrible acts to the people of Metropolis. Maybe Superman's existence is one of the reasons but that doesn't give Lex the license to kill innocent bystanders just to get to Superman. Was it in his genes? His DNA? Or something triggered his psychotic tendency? Is she prone to it? If worse comes to worst would she be able to stop herself from losing the remaining sanity she has?

 _You are too good and too smart to follow in your family's path. Be your own hero._

Her eyes snapped open, and for a moment, she perplexedly stared ahead as she shakily drew a steady breath. Aware of the erratic beat of her heart, Lena chuckled somberly. Half of her life, Lena blamed a Super for wrecking a havoc in her life, for pushing Lex into the edge of insanity, for ruining the only person who accepted her as a person and for destroying the only family she has known all her life but now, Lena was in a completely opposite situation where she trusted a Super wholly, irrevocably with her life.

A Super who, probably was the only one out of the entire population of the earth who believed in her, the only one who dared to save a Luthor when no one else will. A Super who always believed in her advocacies and goals, the only one who dared to push the barriers she erected to protect herself from the cruelty of prejudice around her family name. The only one who made her believed that she was worthy of trust, respect and she was worthy of the name Luthor. Lena laugh quietly as she saw how ironic her situation was and she idly wondered how her brother and mother would react if they knew that a Super and a Luthor defied their longtime feud, their supposed to be never ending war with each other by becoming best of friends, someone important to each other, someone whom Lena couldn't lose.

Her hand tightened instinctively to her pen when she remembered how she almost lost the hero because of her insecurities as a human. She took a glance at the wide view of National City at her window and she thought how lucky she was that Supergirl kept her promise. The hero was too good for Lena but maybe one day it'll finally sink into her stubborn head that Kara sees her worthy of everything the hero can offer. For now, she'll contentedly spend her time with the hero and cherish every moment of it.

Breaking from her depressing thoughts, Lena reached out for her intercom and pressed the button. "Jess? Would you please order me some foods from our usual Chinese restaurant for our dinner ahead of time? Yes, with Kara. Tell them I'll pick it up around six pm, thank you."

Deciding to be productive rather than wallowing in dark thoughts, Lena continued reading the stacks of documents at her desk. Her lips curled into a crooked smile as she unconsciously thought how excited she was to spend her night with her favorite superhero.

* * *

Kara released an annoyed huff when she crossed another name off the list. She pushed her glasses up to her nose and squinted her eyes at the last name on the list. A. Donovan, weird name, Kara thought. She smoothed the crease on the paper as she ran her forefinger under its address and contact number. She pulled her phone from her pocket and dialed it, after a few ring, an answering machine answered. " _This is Donovan_ ," His accent reminded Kara of someone as she listened to it. " _I'm currently unavailable but you could leave a message if you want_." Beep.

Her shoulder slumped in disappointment when the last name in her list was unavailable. She placed her notebook and phone at the table and she leaned back in her seat, her nose crinkled when she remembered her now cold coffee. When she was about to order another one, her phone vibrated, prompting a text. She swiped it open and her chair screeched annoyingly when she suddenly jumped at the thought of her forgotten dinner plans with Lena.

 _ **Lena (6:15 pm): Are you alright? I'm already at your apartment. Are you busy with your Supergirl duties?**_

"Oh, RAO!" As fast as she can, in human pace, she deposited all of her belongings in her bag as she dialed Lena's number.

"LENA!" Kara gasped when her phone fell from her grasps, out of instinct, she caught it before it could fall to the floor. She nervously darted her gaze around to check if someone saw her and she released a sigh when she saw no one. Alex would probably kill her on the spot if she accidentally revealed herself as Supergirl for the third time this day.

"Oh!" She quickly placed her phone in her ear. "Sorry, Lena I almost dropped my phone. I'm on my way home, sorry I got—what? No, of course not, I'm not busy! I asked you, it's just that I'm following a lead,"

 _"Are you sure? We could reschedule if you want to,"_ Lena winced and she slightly pulled her phone away from her ear when Kara loudly squealed NO at the other line.

"I'm sorry, I can be there in two minutes okay? Please, just don't go!" With her phone pressed between her shoulder and her ear, she groaned out loud when she accidentally ripped the zipper off her bag. "Oh, crap! My bag!"

 _"Kara, Kara! Wait, Listen! Don't rush, okay? I'll wait for you here,"_ Kara sagged when she realized that she was panicking, alarmed at the thought that the CEO would leave without even seeing her. "Sorry," she rubbed her forehead, tired and stressed. "I'll be going now and wait for me," With the CEO's assurance, Kara hung up her phone. Finding an abandoned spot where she could change into her suit, Kara ducked her head and in a matter of few seconds, she raced towards her apartment.

* * *

Lena leaned at the wall beside Kara's door as she waited for the hero to arrive. It seems that the serial murder case was keeping her busy. Anticipating the hero's hunger, she ordered all of her favorites and she doubled the amount of it. Her stomach fluttered in exhilaration and nervousness, it's been a while since the last time she spent time with Kara. Nervous that it would awkward for them to fill the possible silence of months of separation and excited at the thought that they both wanted to mend whatever broke between them.

Lena straightened from where she was leaning when she heard a thump inside the apartment and her heart raced in anticipation. She took a peek at her outfit and she wondered if she should have changed her office attire into a more comfortable clothes. When the door opened, her breath caught in her throat as she took in the appearance of the smiling hero.

"Hey, sorry for keeping you waiting. Come in," Kara said breathlessly as her eyes lingered on Lena's face. As the CEO moved past her, Kara caught a whiff of her familiar scent, which made her belly quiver for some unknown reason. Her blue eyes still traveling at Lena body, she quickly fixed her eyes on Lena's face when the CEO suddenly faced her.

"I brought your favorites. I hope you're hungry," Lena smiled unsurely to her. Sensing the hero's embarrassment, Lena tried to fix a smile to her lips.

"Thanks, I'm starving. Let me get that for you," Kara took the bags of takeout from her hands. "Why don't you make yourself comfortable in the living room and I'll dish this into the plates."

Lena placed her bag on the sofa but she followed Kara to the kitchen. "Let me help you with that, we both know that you're more exhausted than me." She took one of the boxes and pulled a plate when Kara placed several of it at the table. They worked silently, placing the foods on the plate. After placing it neatly on the table, Kara faced her.

"Would you like to change into something comfortable? I haven't had the time to change," Lena nodded at her and Kara pulled her into the bedroom. Lena's heart hammered in her chest when she realized that Kara meant that they'll change their clothes simultaneously, in the same room.

"You can use one of my hoodie and sweatpants. It's almost winter so I guess it's getting cold. Well, you probably know that I don't really feel cold but with Winn's layer of clothes, it's getting cold now for humans," Kara rattled off, still not aware of Lena's abrupt stillness. After pulling off two hoodie and two sweatpants, Kara turned around and pushed a sweatpants and hoodie at her hands.

"You take my bedroom and I'll change in the bathroom," At Lena's surprised look, she tilted her head in question.

"O-Of course, you're going to change in the bathroom," Lena grimaced at her dim-witted response. "I-ah, I'm going to change now. If you'll excuse me,"

"Oh, okay, great, I'll be in the b-bathroom if you need me," She pushed her glasses to her nose and she moved towards her bathroom.

Silently cursing herself for making things more awkward between them, Lena grumbled as she unbuttoned her blouse. The tension gripping around her slowly melted when her nose flooded by Kara's scent as she pulled the hero's hoodie over her head. She unzipped her slacks, stepped out of it and pulled the sweatpants up to her waist. She neatly folded her clothes and placed them near the foot of the bed.

Her green eyes roamed, for the first time after months of separation, Lena took in the familiar sight of Kara's homey bedroom. Her lips unconsciously curled into a soft smile when she saw a picture frame near her bedside table, she walked towards it. She picked it up and her chest expanded when she saw that it was the same picture of them, grinning goofily at the camera. It was their last lunch date before the invasion of Daxamites. Kara coaxed her into eating an ice cream after lunch, claiming that dessert is the next best thing after potstickers which didn't make sense for her if someone asked Lena. She eventually gave in after the full blast of puppy pout from Kara that should be considered one of her super powers. They have an ice cream mustache, laughing at each other's silly faces when Kara suggested to take a picture of it.

"Hey," Lena glanced behind her when Kara called her. She waited for her to approach her, still smiling at their picture.

"You still have this?"

"Of course, it's one of my favorite pictures of us." She stood behind the CEO and grinned at their goofy faces in the picture.

"I don't know if I should be scared of flattered that you have that kind of ammunition against me," Kara giggled at her.

"Don't worry, I won't use it to blackmail you and I won't send it to paparazzi, so you're safe unless…" A chuckle escaped her mouth before Lena could stop herself and Kara's eyes narrowed at her. "You don't think I'm scary?"

Lena rolled her eyes at her but she bit her lip from laughing. "Yep," Her lip popped with the letter "P" as she casually placed back the picture at the table. "You don't have a mean bone in your body, Kara."

"What?! I can be mean if I wanted to!" She said indignantly as she watched Lena sniggered at her.

"Yeah, like a golden retriever begging for attention,"

"Oh, really, wait," She quickly pulled out her phone from her sweatpants, nearly vibrating with controlled energy which Lena's brow rose in question. Kara's grin grew wide when she found what she was trying to locate. Lena's jaw dropped when Kara showed her a picture of herself sleeping with her mouth slightly open. To her utter horror, a drool was glistening at the corner of her mouth. "Golden retriever huh?"

"KARA! DELETE THAT AT ONCE!" Lena spluttered, her face red from mortification. When she was about to reach for Kara's phone, the hero ran away which made Lena squeaked in an inelegant manner. "KARA!"

"Catch the golden retriever, Lena!" Laughter echoed at Kara's voice when she saw Lena's shocked face. When the CEO finally snapped from her daze, Lena chased her, Kara squealed in delight at Lena's echoing groan. Kara decided to give the CEO a break, she did not use her super powers as they circled around each other, laughing like kids.

Her blue eyes ran at Lena's joyful face and Kara felt herself soften in fondness for the woman. Seeing her genuinely in high spirits gave Kara a warm fuzzy feeling inside her chest, that makes her want to protect the woman at all cost, to support whatever Lena wanted to do with her life, to spend the rest of her life making Lena smile like that, blissful, relaxed—loved.

At her last thought, Kara stopped dead in her tracks. Her mind suddenly blank, for a moment, she felt an alarm trickling to her veins as her eyes roamed around Lena's face. For the first time since she met her, Kara finally saw Lena in a different light.

Lena's porcelain face smooth beneath the light, perfect jawline—like it was sculpted by the fallen angels itself, making her look poetic, alluring and a little bit dangerous. Those soft black locks of hair that made Kara yearn for her to touch it, to run her hands through it, to tug it close to her nose, to bury her face in it. Those luscious lips that somewhat evokes dozens of effect on her and those green eyes. Just the sight of it always gave her a quick inner jolt, the sheer beauty of it when the color of her green vivid eyes varies as the light shone on it.

"Ha! Got it!" The CEO shouted victoriously when she finally caught up the hero, pulled Kara's phone from her hands, she quickly swiped Kara's phone to find the blackmail worthy of a picture. Lena didn't notice how Kara's face softened, her blue eyes ablaze with an unknown emotion. Does she always look like this? Like a sun finally shone somewhere deep inside her, Kara's mind lurched, suddenly reeling with questions. What was happening to her? Kara jolted from her inner turmoil when Lena hooted in joy.

"Deleted! A Luthor beat you fair and square, no powers!" Kara's heart twitched in a reaction at Lena's obvious delight, out of nowhere a desire blazed in her chest and before she could figure out what she was about to do, Kara reached out.

Lena's eyes widened when Kara roughly gathered the CEO in her chest. Out of habit, she stiffened, eventually, she slumped at Kara's chest. As she laid her head on Kara's chest, she could almost hear the hero's wild beating heart. Thump, thump, thump. Lena's throat ran dry when she felt the hero bury her face in her neck and she shivered in pleasure when Kara's breath caressed her neck.

"Is something wrong, Kara?" Lena said in a small voice, afraid to startle the hero. Kara remained silent but her arms tightened around her in response. They remained motionless for a minute, Lena gently rubbing Kara's back, soothing her.

"I really missed you," Lena's hand stopped in mid-air at the hero's muffled voice. In response, her heart started to beat unsteadily. "I missed you so much…"

"I missed you too…" Lena's voice cracked.

"Thank you for coming back, for giving me another chance…" Tears can be heard in Kara's voice and an ache rose to Lena's chest.

"No, Kara… I should be the one thanking you. For not giving up on me, for giving me chances to prove myself, for always believing me." Lena leaned back to gaze at the hero. "Thank you, Kara. You have no idea how important you are to me, I—I have no words for it,"

"Like potstickers to me?" When Lena's jaw dropped in shock then laughed out loud, Kara joined in the laughter.

"Yep," Kara leaned at Lena's hand when the CEO pinches her cheeks. "Like potstickers, pizza and ice cream for you,"

"Hmmm," Kara bit her lip and raised her eyebrow playfully. "But I think Lena Luthor is more important than those," At the hero's words, Lena knew that she's doomed. She knew that there was something about Kara that made her craved for something more, the pull of gravity was so hard to resist, it was physically impossible and painful for her to do so and that scared Lena. That she might be feeling far more complex than friendship for Kara and she was helpless to resist it.

 _***to be continued***_

 **A/N:**

 **Up next, SuperCorp fluff and Investigation time!**


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